fractal bitcoin is a new sidechain that's got a lot of people talking.

fractal is built by unisat, bsf, uniworlds, and asset bridge. it’s a bitcoin sidechain but it’s totally separate from bitcoin l1:

1. it has its own nodes & miners
2. it has its own token
3. it has its own proof of work
4. it’s fully distinct from bitcoin l1

fractal is a mix of existing bitcoin sidechains:

- like rootstock: it’s merge mined (2 blocks on fractal, 1 on bitcoin)
- like stacks: it can post a merkle root to bitcoin (optional)
- like meta-protocols: it can index l1 transactions (optional)
- like liquid: it sticks close to bitcoin’s codebase
- like drivechains: the goal is multiple sidechains (multiple fractals)
- like bsv: it’s a separate pow chain with its own token

downsides:

1. **limited smart contracts**: no turing complete contracts, just bitcoin script. they want to add CAT to increase functionality.
2. **no bitcoin bridge innovation**: they use mpc-based bridging, similar to basic multi-sig. no new innovation here yet.

fractal is trying to be the most bitcoin-like sidechain. if you're into the many-sidechains vision for bitcoin, keep an eye on this. but don't expect much programmability right now. we'll see how they evolve.

credits to @BobBodily for putting the original post together which i worked off of.