#️What is RGB?

RGB is officially described as "A protocol to issue and transfer digital assets and more generic rights on the Bitcoin blockchain through the use of customizable off-chain smart contracts."

The protocol is published by the LNP/BP Standards Association, with support from Fulgur Ventures, Bitfinex, Hojo Foundation, Pandora Prime and DIBA.

Looking at the specific timeline of events:

• 2016-2017: Proposed by Giacomo Zucco (BHB Network) based on Peter Todd's early ideas about client-side validation and one-time sealing, implemented in the original MVP by BHB Network in 2017 and supported by the Poseidon Group.

• 2019: Maxim Orlovsk and Giacomo Zucco jointly established the LNP/BP Standards Association to promote RGB from concept to practical application. At the same time, Dr. Maxim Orlovsky served as the primary architect and lead contributor to the RGB protocol, designing and implementing the current form of the RGB protocol. RGB has been reimagined and redesigned in design and protocol peer review to become a universal computing and confidentiality smart contract system.

• 2021: The LNP/BP Standards Association successfully demonstrated RGB equipped with a Turing-complete virtual machine (AluVM), and RGB also started running on the Lightning Network, using a Rust reimplementation of the complete Lightning protocol conducted by Dr. Maxim Orlovsky at the association. (LNP Node)

• 2022: The LNP/BP Standards Association has launched a new website on the Contractum language, a new high-level language for writing RGB smart contracts for Bitcoin and Lightning Network. Contractum is a functional, declarative programming language designed for smart contract development running on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network using RGB technology.

• 2023: The LNP/BP Association announces the release of RGB v 0.10, another major milestone in the development of the RGB protocol, bringing full support for smart contracts to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. It is the result of long-term cross-industry collaboration among these Bitcoin developers, contributors, and related companies and more than four years of extensive development work.