BTC and Ordinals: What’s going on
Bitcoin NFTs, also known as Ordinals, is a way to create NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain using a layer-1 protocol. The protocol, launched in January 2023 by @rodarmor, enables users to create and trade NFTs in a decentralized, immutable, and native-to-Bitcoin way.
The Bitcoin NFTs are created using inscription to write any data (text, image, SVG, HTML) on the BTC blockchain, making it non-fungible. Notes differ from traditional NFTs as they are always on-chain, immutable, and have a slightly higher permanence than ETH but a much lower storage fee.
The Bitcoin NFTs have seen a surge in growth since the launch of Ordinals, with collections like @ordrocks, @OrdinalPunks, and @BitcoinShrooms gaining popularity. However, hardline Bitcoiners like @adam3us and @CryptoTea are unhappy about Bitcoin NFTs, considering them an exploit because Bitcoin was not designed to store jpegs. Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, also stated that data unrelated to financial transactions should not be stored on the blockchain.
As for the Blur and OpenSea NFT marketplaces, Blur surpassed OpenSea to become the largest NFT marketplace. Whether Blur will kill OpenSea remains to be seen, but it’s essential to do proper research and invest in collections you understand and trust rather than FOMO investing.
Another important Ordinals project that’s worth taking a look at it is Taproot Wizards, one of the fastest-growing Bitcoin ordinals projects. Taproot Wizards is a collection of unique NFTs native to the Bitcoin network. They are created using inscription to write any data on the Bitcoin blockchain.
In conclusion, Bitcoin NFTs are an exciting development in the NFT space, but their long-term viability remains to be seen — as well as the use of different rollups on top of the BTC infrastructure. It’s essential to do proper research before investing in any collection and to consider the potential risks and benefits.