Getting Started

From Burstcoin security to wallet selection, the Getting Started guide provides the information needed to succeed.

Software

The definitive collection of open-source and easy to use software is located in the Burstcoin Software Library.

Documentation

Visit the Burstcoin Documentation Project for more information.  Contribute new documentation or recommend improvements.

Faucets

Activate a new wallet for mining or to receive a transfer from Bittrex.  Visit the Burstcoin Community Faucet list.

FAQs

Supporting new users, this section contains Frequently Asked Questions. Help curate by visiting the documentation section.

Burstcoin

Open-source decentralized cryptocurrency and blockchain platform that connects people, companies, and financial institutions. It allows you to move value – according to your own rules – within a scalable, green, and customizable ledger.

Computer showing a burstcoin wallet
Wallets

Burstcoin wallets are available in both lite node and full node versions.

Presented here are the most popular and well-supported options.

For a more fine-grained selection of files, please visit the software library.

Phoenix

New!  Lite node featuring cross-platform architecture and single-click installation.

BRS

Full node containing the complete Burstcoin protocols and blockchain record.

The Burstcoin Community Website & Documentation Project's recent international visitors include:
The United States, Canada, Switzerland, Brazil, Germany, Slovakia, Russia, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Italy, Argentina, Sweden, Macedonia, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, Iran, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, China, Japan, Singapore, Norway, Venezuela, Denmark, Croatia, Latvia, Cuba, Qatar, and Macau.

What makes Burstcoin unique?

Burstcoin is one of the most vibrant networks propelling the advancement of blockchain technology.

It was the first cryptocurrency to use the Proof-of-capacity consensus algorithm, a sustainable alternative to the proof-of-work model.  Proof-of-capacity is more energy-efficient than proof-of-work and more fair and decentralized than proof-of-stake.

It was the first cryptocurrency to implement Turing complete smart contracts, and the first to run a program on top of a blockchain.  It also has the distinction of being the first to perform an Atomic Cross-Chain Transaction (ACCT) successfully.

Burstcoin is fueled by its community in the most decentralized and organic fashion, providing a foundation for stability.  Valuing sound fundamentals over short term gain and taking a long view of the markets, development has remained unaffected by volatility.

Development, History, White Papers, and Roadmap

From its creation by an unknown developer through today, Burstcoin history has been eventful.  Burstcoin is community-based with leadership provided by several groups formed to address specific areas of development.  The high-level planning document guiding development is the Burstcoin Roadmap.  This outlines recent accomplishments, current activities, near-term, and long-term goals.  There are several constituent white papers

Core Features

Burstcoin has all of the core features that are needed to run decentralized programs and services on its public blockchain.  With front-end development, there is no limit on the design for online commercial storefronts, business work flows, inventory control systems, etc.  A current development focus is to make Burstcoin’s smart contract functionality more accessible by creating code libraries that connect the underlying byte code with an easy to use programming language.  Another is leveraging the marketplace and asset exchange functionality to create a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange. and a robust trading bot. When people choose trading bots to trade, it helps users execute trades profitably and efficiently, saving them money and time. With the Trading Robots Test, users can also check if the site is reliable for executing trades. 

All of these services are sustained by transaction fees which are paid to miners who run the code and process transactions-transaction fees that are only payable with Burstcoin, the native coin of the Burst network.

The following features, native to its code base, can be leveraged to create robust business solutions:  More technical information for each can be accessed by selecting “Core Features” from the top menu.

Burstcoin exchanges:
Name Pairs
Bittrex BTC
Stex BTC
QBTC CNYT
UPbit BTC
Livecoin BTC
Xchange.me BTC, ETH
ETERBASE BTC, ETH, USDT, EBASE, XBASE
Indacoin USD, EUR, RUB, (Visa & MasterCard)

* Bittrex requires public key activation on the blockchain for withdrawals.

Exchange Integration:
Name Burst
ticker: BURST
decimals: 8
maximum supply: 2,158,812,800
algorithm: Proof-of-Capacity
developers: Burst Alliance
release: no ICO, airdrop, or premine

Smart Contracts

A Turing complete system that reliability executes code exactly as written with no possibility of failure or downtime.

Arbitrary messages

Allows for sending up to 1,000 bytes of actionable data through the blockchain for a variety of programming purposes or simply for communication.  This forms a foundation on which to build decentralized applications, distributed file sharing, and other higher level services.

Offline transaction signing

A Burstcoin account’s private key (passphrase) can be held offline and never exposed to the internet. This security feature allows individual transactions to be signed on a disconnected device.  A single-use signature is generated which can be transferred to a connected device and broadcast to the network for processing.

Global infrastructure

Payments and transfers are instant and anonymous over a powerful shared worldwide infrastructure.

Marketplace

Provides each account with a decentralized storefront, an ideal market for peer to peer selling of digitally transferrable products without third party entanglement, fees, or commissions.

Encrypted messaging

Secure on-blockchain peer-to-peer communication secured by military grade cryptography.  Communications are decrypted using the receiving accounts passphrase.

Crowdfunding

Anyone can create a crowdfunding campaign on the Burstcoin platform.

Impenetrable security

Protect your private key, and your assets will be protected with 128 or more bits of entropy.

Asset exchange

Based on the concept of “colored coins”, the asset exchange is a peer-to-peer exchange built directly into Burstcoin’s software.  It allows for decentralized trading while eliminating trust points and third-party trading fees.

Colored coins

Individual coins can be set aside and conserved, allowing parties to acknowledge them in various ways.  They can be traded on the blockchain and exchanged for whatever the colored coin represents, forming a basis for token based ownership of physical assets, arbitrary digital tokens, stocks, bonds, etc.

Atomic Cross-Chain Trading

A fundamental concept of decentralized exchanges pioneered by Burstcoin and a significant focus for its future development.

Shabal 256

Provably secure cryptographic function selected due to its slower and heavier characteristics which make it well suited for precomputation and storage.

Alias system

A Blockchain based system which associates alphanumeric texts similarly to the concept of variable assignment.  It can operate as a decentralized DNS (domain name system) and has many other real-world use cases made possible with access to its public blockchain.

Internal escrow

An automated intermediary, neither sender nor receiver, governs fulfillment of contract terms.

Dynamic transaction fees

Transactions, including multi-out transactions, can be made for a single minimum transaction fee when network activity is low.  The transaction fee schedule is slot-based. The minimum fee is currently .00735.  

Why was Burstcoin created?

Burstcoin was created to solve functional problems that threaten the growth and success of blockchain based cryptocurrencies, including the often overlooked environmental implications of using a competitive proof-of-work consensus algorithm. When delving into investment opportunities within the crypto market, it's wise to explore not just Bitcoin but also to consider other promising altcoins. As we look ahead, investors may be curious about the top altcoins to invest in 2024. While it's challenging to predict the future performance of specific altcoins, our platform closely monitors the market and provides insights into altcoins with strong potential for growth. In additional to environmental concerns, Burstcoin further addresses issues of centralization, scalability, usability, and equitable distribution

Environmental

  • Burstcoin uses proof-of-capacity to secure its network.  The hashing algorithms used to secure its network are precomputed and stored for retrieval and reuse in the mining process indefinitely.  This eliminates the need to expend raw computational power continually repeating the same hashing procedures.   Burstcoin uses little power beyond what is necessary for initial setup.

Centralization

  • The proof-of-work consensus algorithm’s susceptibility to application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) has resulted in the severe centralization of mining processes for cryptocurrencies that employ it.  Energy and equipment costs allow only well-funded individuals and corporate interests to participate profitably.  Burstcoin is naturally decentralized due to its minimal hardware requirements (off-the-shelf consumer-grade computing equipment), and the ASIC resistant nature of its proof-of-capacity consensus algorithm.  No specialized hardware provides a significant advantage.  Anyone with internet access can participate, even with project board equipment such as a Raspberry Pi which is sufficient to operate a public node.

Scalability

  • Bitcoin supports seven transactions per second, far fewer than the thousands currently processed by conventional transaction processors.  Projects like Bitcoin have grown too large too quickly and no longer have the agility necessary to make sweeping structural changes to address scalability issues.  Burstcoin is developing its technology toward automatic scaling in response to growth in its network user base.  One solution is outlined in the whitepaper entitled The Burst Dymaxion. This proposes deploying a lightning network based on smart contract protocol that is already part of Burstcoin’s core feature set.

Usability

  • To participate in cryptocurrency, users must understand complex principals, install software, register accounts, join exchanges, pay fees, and even verify personal details in some cases.  The end product is often ownership of an asset with less utility than regular fiat currency, perhaps with the exception of investment potential.  To address usability, Burstcoin includes an impressive core feature set within its code base.  One such item is its decentralized markeplace technology which can be used to operate a storefront as elaborate as a front-end developer can imagine.  Smart contracts, colored coins, internal escrow, encrypted messaging, and an alias system are just a few of the advanced features already included with Burstcoin technology.

Equitable Distribution

  • Premined releases and ICOs dominate the cryptocurrency space.  These consolidate coins in the hands of insiders and put at risk the stake of anyone who subsequently mines or purchases these coins under regular market conditions.  Burstcoin’s position is that premined releases and ICOs do not conform to the ideal of a fair and equitable community-based coin.  For this reason, it was released with advance public notice, and every coin in existence was subsequently mined beginning with the Genesis block.

Burstcoin's future

As an early cryptocurrency, Burstcoin has weathered the turbulent cryptocurrency market while being continually refined throughout its eventful existence.  It has emerged enjoying a great deal of trust in its systems, thought to be stronger and more reliable than other networks. The development teams aims to build on this history.

Its future was outlined by developers in a white paper, The Burst Dymaxion, which describes the implementation of a tangle-based lightning network on top of the Burstcoin blockchain. This lightning network, when fully implemented, will allow the network to scale automatically in response to growth in its network’s user base.

Many details of this plan have already been implemented successfully. Completion will require a great deal of time and effort, but this genuinely stunning innovation remains a development focus — nothing less than a processing capacity capable of handling the total of the world’s non-cash transactions.

Like all cryptocurrency projects, Burstcoin is a form of investment and savings.  Burstcoin is expected to deliver a high return on investment (ROI) over time.  Historically, the focus has been on developing the technology rather than marketing.  As a result, there exists a nearly ground floor level for initial investment through regular market rate purchases.  The strength of the project and its development community is evidenced by the accelerated pace of innovation that has been realized since the general cryptocurrency market downturn in December of 2018.

Thank you for your interest in this project.  To contact the development team or request assistance with anything related to the project, please click the icon above to visit the Burstcoin Discord Channel.  A member of the community will enthusiastically welcome you and provide whatever assistance is needed.

The Editor, Burstcoin Community Website & Documentation Project