Ordinals Reach New Heights
The Bitcoin network has officially hit over 10 million Ordinals inscriptions, a milestone recently overshadowed by a major leadership change. Casey Rodarmor, the creator of the Ordinals protocol, announced on May 28 that he was stepping down as lead maintainer. Instead, the reins have been passed to Raphjaph, an anonymous coder who is reportedly funding this venture purely through donations. Sounds like a modern-day tech superhero story, right?
A Rapid Evolution
Ordinals, which went live in January, quickly carved its niche in minting new assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. Initially, they functioned as a means of “inscribing” data within the witness portion of Bitcoin transactions, marking its place on individual satoshis—the Bitcoin equivalent of a single penny.
BRC-20: The Game Changer
The true game-changer for Ordinals was the emergence of the BRC-20 token standard in early March. Developed by the elusive Domo, this standard allowed users to mint entirely new tokens, redefining what was possible with Bitcoin. Suddenly, the number of Bitcoin-based tokens skyrocketed, growing from a few hundred in the first week to a whopping 25,000 at the time of writing, proving that innovation waits for no one!
The Controversy Factor
However, the rise of Ordinals hasn’t been without its skeptics. Several Bitcoin purists have lambasted the practice of asset inscribing, claiming it clogs the network and drives up transaction fees. The argument boils down to efficiency versus creativity, with some developers pivoting towards smart contracts to mint assets and NFTs instead. It seems like every breakthrough comes with its fair share of gripes!
Unlikely Allies and Unexpected Benefits
Interestingly, Ordinals managed to bring some unlikely characters into the Bitcoin fold. In a surprising twist, Peter Schiff—a well-known Bitcoin critic—minted a handful of NFTs using the Ordinals protocol. Was this a sign of the apocalypse, or just a man admitting he might have been too harsh on crypto? Regardless, the influx of activity on the network has proven lucrative for miners, bringing in over $44 million in fees related to Ordinals inscriptions. Not bad for what some would call a waste of block space!
