The recent launch of a nonfungible token (NFT) protocol on the Bitcoin mainnet has the crypto community divided over whether it\u2019ll be good for the Bitcoin ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The protocol, referred to as \u201cOrdinals,\u201d was created by software engineer Casey Rodarmor, who officially launched the program on the Bitcoin mainnet following a Jan. 21 blog post.<\/a><\/p>\n The protocol essentially allows for the Bitcoin version of NFTs \u2014 described as \u201cdigital artifacts\u201d on the Bitcoin network. <\/p>\n These \u201cdigital artifacts\u201d can comprise of JPEG images, PDFs, o video or audio formats<\/a>. <\/p>\n The introduction of the protocol has the Bitcoin community divided, however, with some arguing that it offers more financial use cases for Bitcoin, while others say it\u2019s straying away from Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer cash system. <\/p>\n Bitcoin bull Dan Held was one of those on board with the development, noting that it would drive demand for block space\u00a0\u2014 and thus fees\u00a0\u2014 while bringing more use cases to Bitcoin. <\/p>\n Why it’s good: My take: \u2014 Dan Held (@danheld) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Some have pointed<\/a> out that these NFT-like structures have taken up block space on the Bitcoin network, which could drive up transaction fees.<\/p>\n BREAKING: NFTs ON #BITCOIN<\/a><\/p>\n Ordinals are taking up most of the BLOCKSPACE pic.twitter.com\/Gxwq4vV8MI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bitcoin News ⚡ (@BitcoinNewsCom) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Among those include Twitter user \u201cBitcoin is Saving,\u201d who\u00a0argued\u00a0<\/a>to their 237,600 followers on Jan. 29 that \u201cprivileged wealthy whites\u201d wanting to use JPEGs as status symbols may exclude marginalized people from participating in the Bitcoin network.<\/p>\n Cryptocurrency researcher Eric Wall disagreed<\/a>, opining that Bitcoin\u2019s built-in block size limit would prevent a rise in transaction fees.<\/p>\n Others such as Blockstream CEO and Bitcoin core developer Adam Back weren\u2019t happy with meme culture being brought to Bitcoin, suggesting that developers take the \u201cstupidity\u201d elsewhere:<\/p>\n “you can’t stop them” well ofc! bitcoin is designed to be censor resistant. doesn’t stop us mildly commenting on the sheer waste and stupidity of an encoding. at least do something efficient. otherwise it’s another proof of consumption of block-space thingy.<\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Back (@adam3us) January 29, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n However, Ethereum bull Anthony Sassano, the host of The Daily Gwei, took a shot at the Blockstream CEO for wanting \u201cundesirable\u201d transactions to be censored, which many believe goes against the ethos of Bitcoin:<\/p>\n Adam Back and Luke Dashjr are both Bitcoin core developers who have encouraged censorship over the last 48 hours of these “undesirable” transactions<\/p>\n So no, it isn’t just Bitcoin maximalists – it’s actual Bitcoin core developers<\/p>\n \u2014 sassal.eth (@sassal0x) January 30, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Stacks ecosystem becomes #1 Web3 project on Bitcoin<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In a blog post, Rodarmor explained that the NFT-like structures are created by inscribing satoshis \u2014 the native currency of the Bitcoin network<\/a> \u2014 with arbitrary content.<\/p>\n These inscribed satoshis \u2014 which are cryptographically represented by a string of numbers \u2014 can then be secured or transferred to other Bitcoin addresses, according to notes in Ordinal\u2019s technical documentation:<\/p>\n \u201cInscribing is done by sending the satoshi to be inscribed in a transaction that reveals the inscription content on-chain. This content is then inextricably linked to that satoshi, turning it into an immutable digital artifact that can be tracked, transferred, hoarded, bought, sold, lost, and rediscovered.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The inscriptions take place on the Bitcoin mainnet, no sidechain or separate token is needed, the document states.<\/p>\n Inscriptions are finally ready for Bitcoin mainnet.<\/p>\n Inscriptions are like NFTs, but are true digital artifacts: decentralized, immutable, always on-chain, and native to Bitcoin. https:\/\/t.co\/a4dK7zdITS<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Casey Rodarmor (@rodarmor) January 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It appears that only 277 digital artifacts have been inscripted thus far, according to the Ordinals website.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Rodarmor admitted in an Aug. 25 interview<\/a> on Hell Money Podcast that Ordinals was created to bring memes to life on Bitcoin:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis is 100% a meme-driven development.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2023-01\/84f76ca1-fbef-4efd-adda-448bcfce56a4.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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– Brings more financial use cases to Bitcoin
– Drives more demand for block space (aka fees)<\/p>\n
– If you pay a tx fee, it’s not spam.
– Bitcoin is permissionless. Can’t stop anyone from building it anyway.<\/p>\n\n
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