Top 5 ways to use Leather, the Bitcoin wallet for Web3

Leather was launched to give users a seamless, secure way to put their Bitcoin-secured assets to work and engage with Bitcoin Web3. As a result, Leather is one of the most advanced Bitcoin wallets on the market, giving new and experienced Bitcoin users the chance to participate in an emerging digital economy built on Bitcoin.

The developments that we have seen this year only speak to the importance of having a premium Bitcoin wallet capable of navigating the evolving Bitcoin ecosystem. Bitcoin Ordinals, Bitcoin Stamps, the BRC-20 token standard – those are just some of the new technologies that Bitcoin users have been introduced to this year, and the list is likely to keep growing.

Whether you’re just starting to explore the Bitcoin Web3 ecosystem or an experienced Bitcoin user looking for a wallet to help you do more, here are five ways that Leather can get you started:

Bitcoin Ordinals Support

Since Casey Rodarmor’s Ordinals protocol launched on mainnet in January, its influence on the wider Bitcoin community – and all of Web3, for that matter – has only grown. There are now over 27 million inscriptions to date, which have generated over $50 million in Ordinals total fees since the protocol’s inception. Given how significant Ordinals have become, it’s practically necessary for Bitcoin wallets to build user-friendly features that integrate with the growing Ordinals market.

Leather was one the earliest Bitcoin wallets to offer Ordinals support via testnet just weeks after the protocol launch. Now, Leather users can connect to marketplaces like Magic Eden, Gamma Marketplace and Unisat (and more!)  to inscribe and trade their Ordinals before depositing and storing their inscriptions in-app (under the “Collectibles” section of the Leather browser extension).

Ordinals are just one of the collectibles that Leather users can send and receive in-app, allowing them to transfer their inscriptions between different accounts they may have or with other users.

To learn more about Ordinals, you can visit the following:

• The Ordinals Theory Handbook

• Trust Machines’ “What are Bitcoin Ordinals?” Learn Center guide 

• Cointelegraph’s Bitcoin Ordinals overview

BRC-20 Token Support

Less than two months after the launch of Ordinals, the BRC-20 token standard was launched and provided a way for users to explore the fungibility of bitcoin using Ordinal theory. That gave way to the BRC-20 token boom that emerged on many Bitcoin DeFi protocols, and a demand for fungible tokens. UniSat’s marketplace was the biggest driver of BRC-20 demand, accounting for the vast majority of BRC-20 transactions to date.

Today, Leather users can view their BRC-20 tokens in the “Balances” section of their browser extension when they log in, and can send and receive BRC-20 tokens as well. Additionally, users can also peg in their BRC-20 by connecting to Bitcoin DeFi protocol ALEX.

To learn more about the BRC-20 token standard, you can visit the following:

• CoinDesk’s rundown of what BRC-20 tokens are, and their impact on Bitcoin

• Trust Machines’ Learn Center piece on the BRC-20 token standard and blog post breaking down the differences between ERC-20 and BRC-20

• Ledger Academy’s analysis of the pros and cons of BRC-20 tokens

Bitcoin Stamps

Inspired by Ordinals, Bitcoin STAMPS (Bitcoin Secure Tradeable Art Managed Securely) took the idea of ensuring permanency on the Bitcoin blockchain a step further. Also known as SRC-20 tokens, the STAMPS protocol essentially makes pruning impossible by storing images on the spendable transaction outputs of the Bitcoin blockchain.

SRC-20 tokens are another collectible that Leather users can store within their wallet app. Users can mint and purchase Stamps by connecting to Stamps marketplaces (like Rare Stamp, for example) with their Leather account before depositing them into the “Collectibles” section for display. 

To learn more about Bitcoin Stamps, you can visit the following:

• Unchained Crypto’s walkthrough of SRC-20 tokens, including how they differ from Ordinals

• Trust Machines’ blog post on Bitcoin STAMPS, first published when Stamps were on the Counterparty protocol

BNS Names

Identity ownership is one of the cornerstones of Web3. The Bitcoin Name System (BNS) effectively allows users to claim ownership over unique domain names that they can use in everyday transactions conducted with their Bitcoin wallets. 

But identity ownership aside, many Bitcoin users will probably tell you that sending and receiving bitcoin with the traditionally long, complicated Bitcoin addresses that we’ve come to know can be a little unwieldy. BNS basically converts that long stream of letters and numbers into a readable URL with a suffix (usually a name followed by .btc).

Leather users can claim BNS names by linking their wallet to btc.us. Once a unique .btc name has been claimed and registered by the Stacks L2, it will then appear as a “Collectible” in the user’s browser extension. At that point, anyone who wants to send the user BTC, STX or another Bitcoin-secured token can do so by entering the recipient’s BNS name instead of their Bitcoin address, simplifying the transaction experience.

It is also possible for one Leather account to claim and register multiple BNS names. Leather provides BNSx support, which allows users to wrap multiple names into a single BNSx contract. 

To learn more about BNS, you can visit the following:

• Stacks Academy’s Bitcoin Name System overview

• Xverse’s walkthrough of Bitcoin usernames

• Trust Machine’s Learn Center post on decentralized identities more broadly

Stacks NFTs

Even before Ordinals breathed new life into the Bitcoin NFT space, one of Leather’s biggest mainstays was the variety of features that the wallet offered Stacks NFT enthusiasts. Stacks NFTs are still one of the biggest priorities for Leather today and with the Leather browser extension, users can connect to Stacks NFT marketplaces to mint, buy, sell and trade NFTs on the Stacks Bitcoin layer.

The use cases that Leather unlocks for users’ NFT collections – and the easy-to-use UX that allows them to effortlessly manage their NFTs – has made the Leather browser extension one of the top apps for Bitcoin NFTs. 

To learn more about NFTs on the Stacks Bitcoin layer, you can visit the following:

• Gamma Learn’s overview of Stacks NFTs

• NeoSwap also details how Stacks NFT swaps are conducted on their platform

Your Premium Bitcoin Wallet for Bitcoin Web3

Of course, the five feature categories we laid out only give a snapshot of everything that is possible with Leather. They do, however, speak to Leather’s accessibility for both new and experienced users looking to do more with their bitcoin.

Our mission to drive the Bitcoin economy forward is reflected in the options we give users who want to explore the larger Bitcoin Web3 ecosystem. In addition to securing their tokens with an easy-to-use interface, Leather users can also take advantage of integrations with some of Bitcoin Web3’s biggest apps to unlock the true potential their assets hold.

We want our users to play a part in laying the foundation for a digital economy built on Bitcoin. But for them to effectively do so, they need a premium Bitcoin wallet that gives them the extensive tools and use cases this new economy demands. 

For the long-term, reliable solutions you need for Bitcoin Web3, look no further than Leather.

Connect to web3 applications built on Bitcoin with the Leather browser extension. Install Leather – the only wallet you need to tap into the multilayered Bitcoin economy – today.