Resources

• Website: https://www.kontor.network/
• Docs: https://docs.kontor.network/
• Twitter/X: @kontornetwork
• Telegram: @kontorgeneral
• Email: contact@kontor.network

General & Status

Is Kontor live on mainnet? When mainnet?

Kontor is currently under very active development, with the latest version live on Bitcoin signet. The indexer and smart contracts system are already fully functional, and the public Rust SDK and storage system is coming soon. No mainnet launch date has been announced yet.

Can I buy KOR tokens now? Is there an ICO?

Not yet. Kontor is still under active development. No mainnet launch date or TGE (Token Generation Event) has been announced yet.

Is there a published roadmap?

• Block Explorer (Live)
• Kontor Indexer Alpha (Live)
• Token + AMM Contracts (Live)
• Public Signet API (Live)
• Open-Source Codebase (Live)
• Extensive Documentation (Live)
• Contract SDK (Coming Soon)
• Security Audit (Coming Soon)
• File Storage Contracts + Portal (Coming Soon)

What can we test on signet right now?

Yes, there's quite a bit you can try:

1. Explore the block explorer – Browse Kontor transactions and state on signet at kor.space.

1. Run your own indexer – The codebase is open-source on GitHub.
2. Interact with Token contract – Use the KOR faucet and the token API on kor.space.
3. Write and deploy Sigil smart contracts – The framework is fully functional. Check out the Sigil docs and walkthroughs.
4. Read the documentation – Kontor has a bunch of innovations that make it work differently from other blockchains! Read the docs to learn how.

BTC and KOR

Do I need KOR to use Kontor?

Yes, for smart contract execution and file storage. KOR is the gas token that meters computation and rewards storage nodes. However, you can acquire KOR through atomic swaps with BTC in the same transaction that calls a contract—it’s a single operation from the user’s perspective. BTC remains the unit of account and settlement currency; KOR is just the metered resource for protocol operations.

Can I use Bitcoin in Kontor applications?

BTC is intended to be the central unit of account for Kontor DeFi applications. Kontor allows its assets to be “attached” to Bitcoin UTXOs for trading with standard Bitcoin tools, then “detached” for use in smart contracts, so you can perform atomic swaps between BTC and Kontor assets, or between Kontor assets and other Bitcoin metaprotocol tokens like Runes or Counterparty assets. These swaps can be chained with contract calls in a single Bitcoin transaction.

Architecture & Philosophy

How is Kontor different from L2 solutions?

Kontor really isn’t an L2s, since all Kontor transactions are on Bitcoin itself: there’s no separate consensus system, and no trust assumptions beyond Bitcoin itself.

What's the relationship between Kontor and Counterparty?

Kontor and Counterparty are two distinct metaprotocols, but both are on Bitcoin. Kontor in particular aims to be a general utility layer for all Bitcoin metaprotocols, so for example you'll be able to store Counterparty/Ordinals/Runes NFTs on Kontor and issue new assets using those protocols in a single-confirmation chain of Bitcoin transactions.

What can Kontor do that Counterparty can't?

Counterparty’s smart contract functionality is hard-coded into the indexer (Counterparty Core). Kontor, by contrast, will run any smart contract that users write with Sigil and deploy to Bitcoin. In addition, Kontor has a novel system for scalable persistent file storage on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Does Kontor bloat the Bitcoin blockchain?

A key innovation of Kontor is scalable off-chain file storage fully backed by Bitcoin, where all transactions are on Bitcoin but stateless data doesn’t need to be embedded in Bitcoin transaction directly.

Who maintains the indexer? Can I run an indexer now?

The Kontor indexer is fully open-source and freely licensed. It’s still in alpha, but its smart contract system is fully functional and live on Bitcoin signet. Anyone can run their own indexer to verify Kontor state trustlessly.

File Storage

Is file data really stored forever?

The protocol is designed to sustain storage indefinitely through economic incentives based on KOR emissions. The cost of storing data in the network is dominated by the opportunity cost of staking KOR, so both the cost of storing data on Kontor and the rewards are intrinsic rather than extrinsic, and the storage protocol functions as a closed system.

Can anyone run a storage node?

Yes. Storage nodes are just Kontor users who commit to storing files and have sufficient KOR staked. The barrier to entry is simply storage capacity, bandwidth, and capital for staking. The protocol is permissionless—no one can prevent you from joining storage agreements or challenge you unfairly. Challenges are deterministic and verifiable by anyone running the indexer.

How does Kontor storage work?

Kontor solves the "pay once, store forever" problem. Users make a single payment and their files are stored permanently, without subscriptions or renewals. Storage nodes earn continuous rewards for maintaining files, creating aligned incentives that last as long as Bitcoin itself.

How is storage enforced?

Every Bitcoin block, random storage nodes are challenged to prove they still possess their data. A node missing just 10% of a file has a 99.997% chance of being caught per challenge. When caught, they lose their stake (typically 10-100× their storage costs) and all future earnings. This makes honest storage the only profitable strategy.

How does storage pricing work?

Logarithmic cost scaling makes storage accessible for everyone, so a 1 GB file costs only about twice as much as a 1 MB file. Small critical files face no economic barriers while large files remain practical. Your one-time fee is burned to prevent spam, while storage is funded by perpetual network emissions that ensure nodes are always incentivized to maintain your data.

How is this different from IPFS/Arweave/Filecoin?

vs Filecoin/Sia: No subscriptions. Pay once instead of continuously or lose your data. It’s designed for blockchain-native assets that might sit dormant for years.

‍vs Arweave: Arweave hopes storage will continue but provides no enforcement—nodes face no penalties for deleting data. Kontor uses cryptographic challenges and economic slashing to ensure compliance.

vs IPFS: IPFS has no economic layer at all—files simply disappear when nodes feel like pruning. Kontor pays nodes to maintain your data forever. And the Kontor system is entirely on Bitcoin.

Smart Contracts on Kontor

How do I deploy a smart contract?

Write your contract in Rust using the Sigil SDK, compile it to WebAssembly using cargo build, and deploy it through a Kontor transaction. The deployment transaction contains the compiled WASM bytecode in its witness data, embedded using the Taproot commit-reveal pattern. Once the transaction confirms on Bitcoin, the contract is live and can be called by anyone. The Kontor SDK handles the transaction construction and signing process.

How do I interact with deployed contracts?

Create a Kontor transaction that specifies the contract address, the function to call, and the arguments. The SDK provides a TypeScript/JavaScript interface that mirrors the contract’s functions—calling a contract looks like calling a regular API. The SDK constructs the appropriate Bitcoin transaction, you sign it with your wallet, and it broadcasts to Bitcoin. When the transaction confirms, indexers execute the contract function and update state accordingly.

What are gas costs like?

Kontor transaction fees have two components: Bitcoin fees and Kontor smart contract gas (paid in KOR). The BTC fee depends on transaction size and network conditions, typically covering ~200 bytes for a simple contract call. The KOR fee depends on computational complexity—reading storage is cheap, writing storage costs more, and cross-contract calls add overhead. Gas is metered during execution and deterministic: the same operation always costs the same amount. The SDK can estimate costs before submitting transactions.

How do I get started developing?

Install Rust and the Sigil SDK, then follow the getting started guide in the documentation. The SDK includes example contracts (token, NFT, simple DeFi primitives) that demonstrate common patterns. The SDK provides testing utilities so you can write unit and integration tests that execute locally before deploying. Join the developer community for support and to see what others are building!

Does Kontor support NFTs?

Yes. You can create NFT contracts using Sigil, with arbitrary metadata and custom logic for minting, transfers, royalties, and access control. The file persistence protocol provides decentralized storage for NFT assets—images, videos, or any other data—anchored to Bitcoin with proofs of availability. This combination gives you programmable NFT logic (smart contracts) and reliable long-term storage (file persistence) in one integrated system, usable by anyone in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

What is Sigil?

Sigil is Kontor's next-generation smart contract framework that brings powerful decentralized applications to Bitcoin. Sigil uses the WebAssembly Component Model to make contract development feel natural and productive—like writing regular software.

What makes Sigil different from Solidity/EVM?

Sigil contracts are written in established programming languages like Rust rather than blockchain-specific DSLs like Solidity / Vyper. This means you work with mature ecosystems that have great tooling and extensive standard libraries. There are no EVM-specific pitfalls to work around—no delegatecall vulnerabilities, storage collision risks, or complex visibility rules to reason about.

What makes Sigil developer-friendly?

Sigil removes the friction from smart contract development. With Sigil, you can write code that feels like normal software, get immediate feedback from your IDE, catch bugs at compile-time instead of after deployment, and test with standard testing frameworks.

What languages can I write Sigil contracts in?

Currently Rust, but because Sigil uses WebAssembly, it capable of supporting any language that compiles to WebAssembly in the future.

What's coming for Sigil?

• TypeScript SDK for client-side contract interaction
• List types in storage
• Native Address type
• Enhanced querying (key prefix matching for Map types)

Related Projects

How is Kontor different from Stacks or Liquid sidechains?

Those are sidechains with their own consensus mechanisms, validators, and block production. Assets must be bridged on and off, creating trust assumptions and economic friction. Kontor has no separate consensus, no validators, and no bridge—it’s just Bitcoin transactions interpreted with additional rules. This makes Kontor fundamentally synergistic with Bitcoin (more Kontor usage means more Bitcoin fees) rather than competitive.

How is Kontor different from Ordinals or Runes?

Ordinals and Runes are also metaprotocols, so they share Kontor’s security model and Bitcoin-native properties. The difference is functionality: Ordinals assigns identities to satoshis, Runes tracks simple token balances, while Kontor supports full smart contracts with complex state, cross-contract calls, and off-chain file storage with on-chain proofs. Kontor is designed for sophisticated applications that require programmable logic beyond basic token transfers.

How is Kontor different from Alkanes?

Alkanes and Kontor are both Bitcoin metaprotocols with WebAssembly smart contracts, but they have very different functionality in practice. Architecturally, Alkanes is exclusively UTXO-based and builds partially on Runes infrastructure with no separate gas token. Kontor uses a hybrid accounts/UTXO model that supports both stateful smart contracts—avoiding the concurrency issues of Alkanes’ purely UTXO-based system—and Bitcoin interoperability through atomic swaps. Kontor also has KOR as a native currency with tokenomics designed for gas metering and file storage incentives. For information on the differences in the smart contract systems, see Kontor vs. Alkanes.

How is Kontor different from Move-based chains?

Move (used by Aptos and Sui) is a novel programming language with its own syntax, resource-oriented programming model, and tooling ecosystem. Learning Move means learning a new language with unfamiliar concepts like “abilities” and “acquires” declarations. Sigil is an embedded DSL in Rust: if you know Rust, you can write Sigil contracts immediately using familiar tools and libraries. For more information, see Kontor vs. Move.