BNRP Tutorial
How BNRP works
Bitcoin Name Resolution Protocol: an open naming layer built on Ordinals. No smart contracts, no off-chain state. Just inscriptions and the wallets that hold them.
What is BNRP
BNRP stands for Bitcoin Name Resolution Protocol. It is an open protocol for human-readable names on Bitcoin, built entirely on top of Bitcoin Ordinals. There are no smart contracts, no DNS, and no off-chain registry. Every record lives on Bitcoin L1.
A name like trump.btc is an Ordinals inscription. Ownership is determined purely by who holds
the inscription UTXO — the same way you own a satoshi. Transfer the UTXO, transfer the name.
Nothing else needs to happen.
The protocol is specified as a JSON schema written into inscription content. Any indexer that speaks Ordinals and understands BNRP's operation types can resolve names without trusting any third party.
Supported TLDs
BNRP currently recognizes the following top-level domains:
No central authority. BNRP does not have a registry contract or a governing DNS zone. Validity is determined by inscription provenance and the nonce ordering rules described in this document.
Names
A BNRP name is an Ordinals inscription whose content is a JSON object with "p":"bnrp"
and a label matching one of the supported TLDs. The inscription UTXO is the authoritative
proof of ownership — no registration confirmation, no separate ownership record.
Names can be bought and sold on the BTCNative marketplace. Selling a name is just transferring the inscription to a new wallet. No contract call, no registry update. The new UTXO holder is the new owner, and any indexer reading BNRP state will reflect that immediately.
When a root name changes hands, all subnames under it become invalid automatically. The new owner starts with a clean slate and can re-authorize subnames individually. This prevents squatting on subname real estate across a sale boundary.
{
"p": "bnrp",
"op": "name_register",
"name": "trump.btc",
"records": {
"btc": "bc1pexampletaprootaddress...",
"x": "realDonaldTrump",
"url": "https://trump.com"
},
"nonce": 1,
"v": 1
}Subnames
A subname (e.g. donald.trump.btc) is a separate Ordinals inscription.
It is created by the name owner inscribing a subname_register operation.
The "to" field in that inscription is the initial owner address.
The subname can then be managed independently — its owner controls their own records.
The subname owner can update their records with subname_update, and transfer the subname to another wallet with subname_transfer. The name owner retains the right to revoke any subname at any time with subname_revoke.
For avatar records, the subname can either point to its own Ordinals inscription ID
(prefixed ord:...) or use the value "inherit" to resolve
to the parent name's avatar automatically.
Subname lifecycle operations
{
"p": "bnrp",
"op": "subname_register",
"name": "trump.btc",
"sub": "donald.trump.btc",
"to": "bc1pdonaldwalletaddress...",
"records": {
"btc": "bc1pdonaldwalletaddress...",
"x": "donaldtrump",
"avatar": "inherit"
},
"nonce": 1,
"v": 1
}{
"p": "bnrp",
"op": "subname_update",
"sub": "donald.trump.btc",
"records": {
"btc": "bc1pnewaddress...",
"lightning": "donald@getalby.com",
"url": "https://donald.trump.btc"
},
"nonce": 2,
"v": 1
}
Sale invalidates all subnames. When the root name inscription moves to a new wallet,
every subname under it becomes unverified. The new owner decides which subnames,
if any, to re-authorize. Prior subname holders cannot force reinstatement.
Records
Records are stored inside the inscription JSON under a "records" object.
Standard keys are defined by the protocol; any additional key is also accepted —
BNRP does not restrict custom fields.
Resolvers read the highest-nonce valid inscription for a given name or subname and return whatever records it contains. There is no separate record-update mechanism — updating a record means inscribing a new operation with a higher nonce.
Standard record keys
user@domain.com format).ord:, or the string "inherit" to use the parent name's avatar.{
"p": "bnrp",
"op": "subname_update",
"sub": "donald.trump.btc",
"records": {
"btc": "bc1p...",
"lightning": "donald@getalby.com",
"x": "donaldtrump",
"url": "https://trump.com",
"avatar": "ord:a1b2c3d4...i0",
"nostr": "npub1...",
"github": "donaldtrump",
"custom_key": "any value accepted"
},
"nonce": 5,
"v": 1
}Authority
Authority in BNRP is derived entirely from inscription provenance — the wallet that signs the
inscription transaction must match the expected owner for that operation. An indexer
marks any inscription coming from the wrong wallet as unauthorized and ignores it.
There are two authority levels: name owner and subname owner. They have non-overlapping control, with the name owner holding final say over which subnames exist.
| Role | Permitted operations |
|---|---|
| Name owner | Register subnames, revoke subnames, set namespace policy, update root name records |
| Subname owner | Update their own records (subname_update), transfer their subname (subname_transfer) |
| Anyone else | No write access. Any inscription from an unauthorized source is ignored. |
Nonce system
Every BNRP inscription carries a "nonce" integer. The indexer tracks the highest
valid nonce seen for a given name or subname. Only that inscription is canonical — any
earlier inscription with a lower nonce is marked superseded and no longer resolves.
This prevents replay attacks. If an old inscription is re-broadcast, its nonce will be lower than the current canonical state, so it is rejected. Nonces must be strictly increasing.
{ "p": "bnrp", "op": "subname_update",
"sub": "donald.trump.btc",
"records": { "btc": "bc1pupdatedaddress..." },
"nonce": 3, // was 2 — must be higher
"v": 1
}Validity states
Resolving normally. Highest-nonce valid inscription from the correct wallet.
Name owner explicitly revoked this subname. Stops resolving immediately.
Root name was sold. Subname existed before the sale and has not been re-authorized by the new owner.
A later inscription with a higher nonce exists. This one is no longer canonical.
Inscription came from the wrong wallet. Ignored by all conforming indexers.
Namespace Policy
Name owners can publish a namespace policy inscription that controls who is permitted to register subnames under their name. The policy is inscribed as a separate BNRP operation and takes effect for all subsequent subname_register requests.
If no policy is set, the name owner retains full gatekeeping by default — only they can authorize new subnames.
Policy modes
{
"p": "bnrp",
"op": "namespace_set",
"name": "trump.btc",
"policy": "allowlist",
"list": [
"bc1palicewallet...",
"bc1pbobwallet..."
],
"nonce": 2,
"v": 1
}BTCNative Tools
BTCNative (btcnative.name)
is the first marketplace and tool suite built on BNRP. It provides three focused tools,
each corresponding to a different BNRP workflow.
Marketplace
Buy and sell BNRP names. Listings are backed by the underlying Ordinals inscription, so purchasing a name transfers the inscription UTXO directly to the buyer's wallet. No wrapping, no custodial step.
Subname Manager
Create, update, transfer, and revoke subnames under names you own. The manager handles nonce tracking and builds the correct inscription JSON for each operation, so you do not need to compose it by hand.
Namespace Tool
Generate the BNRP inscription JSON for any operation — name registration, namespace policy, subname operations — ready to paste into your preferred inscription service. Useful for power users who want to manage inscriptions outside the Subname Manager.
API: All three tools are backed by the BNRP API at
api.bnrp.name/v1/.
You can integrate the same resolution and lookup endpoints into your own application.
See the API Reference section below.
API Reference
The BNRP API provides read access to resolved names, records, and subname indexes. The base URL for all endpoints is:
https://api.bnrp.name/v1/Endpoints
btc record points to it."inherit" rules for fields that defer to the parent.{
"name": "trump.btc",
"status": "active",
"owner": "bc1pexampletaprootaddress...",
"nonce": 3,
"records": {
"btc": "bc1pexampletaprootaddress...",
"x": "realDonaldTrump",
"url": "https://trump.com"
},
"inscription_id": "a1b2c3d4...i0"
}