Hello Carlton, TraderTimm:

It's been a while. You might be interested to know:

I made the decision to move away from the Bitcoin network because it has finally become too big and slow for data embedding.

Nevertheless, the OP_RETURN field is still being utilized for embedding and anchoring purposes by some very innovative companies and projects. Stay tuned. Their choices of underlying data structures will continue to evolve.

My project now relies on three chains: Ethereum, Factom and Groestlcoin.

Factom is a great general-purpose data layer: https://www.factom.com

Groestlcoin (GRS) is an established fork of BTC. Super fast and efficient. https://www.groestlcoin.org
See also: https://www.groestlcoin.org/what-is-groestlcoin-backed-by/

Happy trails,
Steven Williams
https://www.indelible.ink

Hi Carlton, TraderTimm.... sorry anyone was pissed off... but here's more good news for you:

ETHEREUM has been added to the list.

So, at https://www.indelible.ink .... there are now three protocols for users to choose from: the Bitcoin network, Ethereum or Factom.

Working up close and personal with these protocols has really helped me to understand your criticism! Believe me, I don't want to intentionally piss anyone off. I would rather make a few friends here, not enemies. But you might find these observations interesting from my point of view as someone who is running nodes:

Ethereum is LIGHTNING FAST. The "geth" implementation -- which I'm working with -- is super fast, elegant, powerful code.

Factom is a great layer for all-purpose data anchoring into the chain. Speed varies.

Bitcoin processing really slowed down to a crawl during the recent flurry of trading. And yet, people are still embedding. The debate on the OP_RETURN field seems to have faded away. It has taken a back seat to pending issues such as SegWit.

It looks as though reality is boiling down to this: "Layers" such as Factom -- and also Blockstack -- are agile enough to move their embedding functionality from the Bitcoin network to another network of their choosing, whenever they decide the timing is right. (Both of them currently write anchors into the Bitcoin blockchain.) Ethereum is now a viable alternative for embedding / anchoring in addition to the full range of its capabilities.

We might just see a mass exodus from OP_RETURN embedding once other chains have gained enough traction.

https://www.indelible.ink

Hello again Carlton, as promised in my previous post, here is a listing.

All of these protocols were utilizing the OP_RETURN field as of several months ago. I know of at least one whose info should be updated here -- a major player. I had to refer to an old list from Oct. 21, 2016 because I'm no longer finding the information on the Bitcoin wiki.

The first item, e.g. "SPK" or "DOCPROOF", is the prefix that is used by the protocol within OP_RETURN.
-------------------------------------------------------
SPK CoinSpark (http://coinspark.org/developers/)
DOCPROOF Proof of Existence (http://www.proofofexistence.com/)
CryptoTests- Crypto Copyright (http://crypto-copyright.com/)
CryptoProof- Crypto Copyright (http://crypto-copyright.com/)
BS BlockSign (http://blocksignit.com/)
OA Open Assets (https://github.com/OpenAssets/open-assets-protocol
/blob/master/specification.mediawiki)
STAMPD## stampd (http://stampd.io/)
Factom!! Factom (http://factom.org/)
FACTOM00 Factom (http://factom.org/)
Fa Factom (http://factom.org/)
FA Factom (http://factom.org/)
tradle Tradle (http://tradle.io/)
LaPreuve LaPreuve (http://www.lapreuve.net/)
hex:5888 Blockstore (http://blog.onename.com/blockstore-bitcoin/)
hex:5808 Blockstore (http://blog.onename.com/blockstore-bitcoin/)
id Blockstore (http://blog.onename.com/blockstore-bitcoin/)
BITPROOF Bitproof (https://bitproof.io/)
S1 Stampery (https://stampery.co/)
S2 Stampery (https://stampery.co/)
S3 Stampery (https://stampery.co/)
S4 Stampery (https://stampery.co/)
S5 Stampery (https://stampery.co/)
ASCRIBE Ascribe (https://www.ascribe.io/)
ProveBit ProveBit (https://github.com/thereal1024/ProveBit)
EW Eternity Wall (http://eternitywall.it/)
CC Colu (http://colu.co/)
omni Omni Layer (http://www.omnilayer.org/)
MG Monegraph (http://monegraph.com/)
RMBd Remembr (https://app.remembr.io/)
RMBe Remembr (https://app.remembr.io/)
ORIGMY OriginalMy (http://originalmy.com/)
BID Identity (http://bitpos.me/)

Hi Carlton, nice to hear from you.

Yes, of course, no one wants the network to be polluted. I learned this first-hand with my two Bitcoin network nodes.

Granted -- maybe you are also referring to increasing numbers of transactions competing for block space and, therefore, network latency. Yes, that could become a side effect -- if utilization really gets out of hand. But, this can be throttled down at the level of the data layer.

FACTOM is a great alternative data layer.

There are many more such layers in use today, and now under development.

To illustrate, let me look up a listing of services that currently embed their anchors into the OP_RETURN field. I'll post the list separately.

Best regards, Steven

Hello all, I wanted to revive this thread with some good news...

...as promised, the system now offers an additional blockchain: FACTOM.

As you may know, FACTOM has been gaining traction within the wider crypto community for its coin as well as its protocol.

FACTOM isn't designed to be a data storage solution, but rather a protocol for anchoring.

The protocol is very compatible with preserving tweets and helping to build awareness of blockchains, the underlying purposes of my project.

Thank you for bearing with me on this one.

Steven Williams

www.indelible.ink

Deep down, we are on the same page, TraderTimm. None of us who stumbled upon this discussion want our involvement to be disposable. It's all about giving a long-lasting quality to our tweets, sayings and words.

So, admittedly, we are stretching the common understanding of the word "tweet". Please forgive the play on words. All things considered, the courts ruled against Twitter when the company attempted to claim the term as their own intellectual property.

Take writers and authors as an example of where we are headed in terms of self-expression. Everyone seems to be self-publishing an ebook nowadays. The flurry of creative activity is a good thing and a manifestation of the personal drive for self-expression. As we know, the writing occupation dates back thousands of years. And yet, stone tablets carved by scribes of ages past seem to be more "permanent" than any form of self-expression available to us today.

If the volume of activity is manageable and miners are compensated -- fairly -- then what's wrong? Yes, of course, we'll have to move to another blockchain eventually, as things evolve. But all tweets and Blockchain Receipts will remain valid.

You might be interested to know... we're doing our part to support the network. Out of 5,434 Bitcoin nodes that are active right now at this very moment globally, two of them are run by me. 

Thank you, Karartma1, it was nice to hear from you. 

Hey guys, I'm the "OP_RETURN CEO" of Indelible.ink.

Man, your criticism is brutal.

It's all good -- as long as tweet volumes are manageable and miners are compensated for their work.

This is a proof-of-concept project.

It just happens to be generating some good press.

There will be MANY blockchains in the years to come.

Best regards, Steven E. Williams

https://www.indelible.ink

-----------------------------------------------------

What is the easiest way to embed up to 80 characters of plain text into the Bitcoin blockchain?

Blockchain tweeting is here...

www.indelible.ink

Please have a look at my proof-of-concept project.

Any comments/suggestions would be *greatly* appreciated.

Thank you.

Steven Williams

www.indelible.ink