In an email dated January 17, 1993, Bitcoin developer and early contributor Hal Finney shared the concept of “encrypted digital cards,” now known as non-fungible tokens (NFT).
“Thinking more about the idea of buying and selling digital cash, I thought of a way to present it,” Finney wrote at the time. “We’re buying and selling ‘crypto trading cards.'”
The most intriguing detail of his email is that by sharing the idea, Finney hopes to promote understanding of the concept of digital currency. His vision heralds the NFT boom we will see in 2021. Overnight, the cryptocurrency space changed from being only about financial decentralization to one that also encompasses arts, games, entertainment, and more.
This once-theoretical, heavily promoted narrative became practical and part of everyday culture for millions of people who would never have considered buying cryptocurrency before. With the launch of the Ordinals protocol in early 2023, we are witnessing such cases emerging.
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However, the movement has not been popular with some “red-eyed guardians.”
The Wizard JPEG That Started the Bitcoin Civil War
In February 2023, the Taproot Wizards achieved a remarkable feat using the Ordinals protocol. They generated the largest block in Bitcoin history at the time, reaching a size of almost 4 megabytes.
Their goal is clear: to challenge existing norms and foster an experimental and rebellious mindset within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Since the “Wizard Block”, over 14 million inscriptions have appeared, yielding some magnificent results: a circular digital economy in which assets are priced, bought and sold via Bitcoin (BTC). (The inscription is engraved with content, creating an NFT.)
Liberty, Rare Moons, and Brotherhood
To illustrate the rapid pace of experimentation within this ecosystem, in February traders were using Google Sheets to buy and sell Ordinal NFTs as there was no marketplace available.
“We’re experimenters in a protocol. My goals are clear: to get started, to educate, to entertain and to experiment on the Bitcoin blockchain,” said a self-described “BitGod” in the Ordinal ecosystem in an interview tell me.
However, in just a few months, notable companies and projects have entered the scene, providing some framework for this market. Currently, the marketplace has more than 140,000 unique users and a transaction volume of more than $220 billion.
Among the experiments that have sparked this interest, one claim has caught the public’s attention: rare moons.
Many projects are using this narrative to label their artwork. For example, CTRL was the first project to inscribe a “rare” Satoshi.
“I think this image is symbolic of the CTRL movement and its inflection point in the discovery of Rare sat,” Jameson Mah told me. “This movement is diverse, humble, cypherpunk, fresh blood and energy. CTRL is indeed replacing the old-fashioned $2 bill representing the old system, with Rare’s hash peeking out from the back. Then, Nakamoto Satoshi’s genesis block message started it all, illuminated by the light of a rare power at the center. It is non-violent, but also clearly rebellious.”
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Currently, only eight Rare sats similar to those used by CTRL in their artwork have been found. One of them fetched $600,000 at auction. The other is Gansy, founder of the Rare Satoshi Society. He revealed that RSS has earned more than $2.5 million by providing satoshi with specific properties to more than 100 Ordinals projects. In order to remain the leading provider of rare satellites in the market, his team has traded over $3 billion in BTC in search of gems that make up their current portfolio.
There are several other experiments that have brought fresh blood to the Bitcoin ecosystem. Important ordinal use cases worth exploring include BRC-20, bitmaps, and recursive inscriptions.
What’s Happening in Bitcoin Season 2?
It is crucial to recognize ordinal numbers as a highly complementary movement to Bitcoin’s success. The victory of an ecosystem does not depend on a single solution, but on a combination of factors that help it thrive.
In some cases, like in Argentina, Bitcoin adoption will be out of necessity. For others, it will stem from their fascination with Bitcoin fundamentals. Institutional adoption through ETFs will contribute significantly on the adoption curve. Additionally, the emergence of the Ordinals application will bring double benefits to the network, facilitating the adoption and growth of the ecosystem infrastructure.
“My first expectation is that many projects will experiment with bitcoin,” Maher said, adding, “Then, as people rekindle their interest, the network will become more expensive to use. So , logically, some of this activity should move to layer 2. For example, many builders have tried Rollup architecture on top of Bitcoin.”
Mah concluded: “Amidst the hype, it’s important to always look for real innovation, substance, creativity, and most importantly, Bitcoin-native thinking.”
Luigi Tyrell Chief Commercial Officer of Lumx Studios, a Web3 studio whose investors include BTG Pactual Bank, Latin America’s largest investment bank. Lumx Studios has previously worked with Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Nestle and Meta on Web3 cases.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, ideas and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
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