When it comes to NFTs, Ethereum and Solona are undoubtedly the dominant ecosystems for NFT creatives and marketplaces. While most attention is given to the aforementioned, Ordinals (a type of Bitcoin NFTs) are suddenly the next “hotspot,” as many associated marketplaces have experienced a surge in popularity and purchase.
NFT development in the Bitcoin ecosystem was once impossible due to its simple architecture and low capability to handle smart contracts. With the advent of the Ordinals inscription and another layer 2 solutions, Bitcoin NFTs can now be made possible, ushering a new audience into the Bitcoin ecosystem. According to experts, the Bitcoin NFTs are projected to accrue over $5 million by 2025.
Here’s all you need to know about Bitcoin Ordinals, utility, as well as other Bitcoin NFT marketplaces.
What are Bitcoin ordinals?
Bitcoin NFTs, also called Bitcoin Ordinals, are similar to NFTs found on Ethereum and other ecosystems. Instead of smart contracts, ordinals use satoshi, the smallest denomination on the blockchain, and each satoshi is given a serial number (which is dependent on its mining order). Ordinals can sometimes have additional information available to them via inscribing.
These additional details can be a text or even an image. Employing this technology, NFT creatives can inscribe unique art into an ordinary to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs). While the Bitcoin mainnet Ordinals software was released in January 2023, its success was due to two chain updates: SegWit (Segregated Witness) 2017 and Taproot 2021. PTPWallet tokenization services help you launch your own Bitcoin ordinals.
How Do Bitcoin Ordinals Work?
Ordinals have shown exceptional growth over the past few months as the chain recorded over $43 million spent on NFT inscription fees. To know how ordinals and transcription work, it’s essential to understand the protocol behind them.
As aforementioned, Ordinal leverages the Taproot upgrade and Segregated Witness (SegWit) technology. Here, Taproot is designed to make Bitcoin transactions more efficient while securing the privacy of each transaction, and SegWit is aimed at improving transaction malleability and block capacity (and weight). Together, the efficiency of both protocols contributes to the inscription process for Bitcoin Ordinals.
The average Bitcoin NFT undergoes two phases: the inscription phase and the validation phase.
The inscription phase involves attaching data, which can be any unique thing, to create an NFT. This data is embedded within specific Bitcoin units and can either be pixelated art or as large as a video game file. The process of inscription is made possible by two Bitcoin protocols: The Taproot protocol allows for storing data in the Taproot script-path spend scripts in the form of an envelope to protect the attached data. An inscription is considered successful when the data is embedded in a transaction.
The validation phase is important in creating a blockchain NFT, as it confirms the inscription transaction and adds it to the chain. As a reward for validation, validators (miners) receive incentives to ensure the verifiability and stability of every ordinal.
What are the differences between Bitcoin Ordinals and traditional NFTs?
A major difference between Bitcoin NFTs and traditional NFTs is their ecosystem. Ordinals rely on the Bitcoin blockchain, while others often rely on alternative chains (mostly Ethereum). Bitcoin NFTs are created via inscription, which is way different from traditional NFTs, which depend on written smart contracts.
Ordinals are inscribed directly on-chain and are more secure and immutable, while traditional NFTs are stored off-chain with metadata links attached, while the scarcity of traditional NFTs is determined by the developer or creator.
Contrary to the initial assumption, ordinals can be developed via other means, like layer-2 scaling solutions like Stacks and Lightning Networks. These solutions are smart contract-dependent and still use the Bitcoin chain layer, allowing users to enjoy both chains.
Are Bitcoin Ordinals valuable?
Ordinals are valuable and can range from a dollar to thousands. The highest sale for a Bitcoin ordinal so far is an Ordinal Punk NFT, selling for 9.5 BTC, which is around $500,000 to $700,000. The price of ordinals is determined by their potential, which can include the following:
Gaming: Ordinals can be in-game assets that are offered upon completion of tasks and can then be sold as NFTs on-chain.
Arts: Popular arts can tokenize ordinals by inscribing their albums, mercies, or other digital assets. The more popular an artist is, the more valuable it is.
Other uses can be ticketing, metaverse, real estate, stocks and shares, and more.
4 Popular Bitcoin Ordinals Marketplaces
There are many popular Bitcoin NFT marketplaces to look into; here are four of the most promising:
Ordinals Wallet
With over $80 million in total trading volume, more than 800,000 Ordinals inscribed, and over 450,000 wallets created, the Ordinals Wallet takes a spot on this list for obvious reasons. This NFT marketplace has over 500,000 successful trades facilitated and is one of the big players on the Bitcoin Network.
Magic Eden Marketplace
The name “Magic Eden” is no stranger to those in the NFT marketplace. With multiple sales and a huge trading volume in Solana, Polygon, and Ethereum, Magic Eden has also amassed popularity in the world of ordinals. Magic Eden is the top choice for many NFT creatives in need of Ordinals. Within a few weeks of launching on ordinals, Magic Eden has notched over 30 BTC or almost $1 million worth of total trading volume.
DeGods
DeGods is another popular marketplace with a market cap of over $36,000,000. There are almost 10,000 NFT mints, and as of writing, the DeGods (DEGODS) NFT collection has a floor price of $4,077.16 and a 24-hour sales volume of 93.97 ETH.
Gamma.io
The Gamma Ordinals marketplace allows users to explore, sell, trade, and buy Ordinals directly on the Bitcoin blockchain with a Bitcoin L1 infrastructure. Despite strong competitors, they have remained a giant thanks to their large community and tools that allow any user to create their own Bitcoin NFTs.
Create Your Own Bitcoin Ordinal Collection With PTPWallet
PTPWallet is unquestionably among the top-performing solution providers in 2024, having earned the title of best white-label cryptocurrency wallet provider for merchants. This solution is a fast-rising choice for NFT creatives looking for a white-label NFT development solution.
With our array of experts with years of experience in NFT development and management, you are assured of the best tokenization solution in the entire cryptosphere. Our clients enjoy reasonable prices, advanced security, and multifunctional features. You are one visit away from becoming the next Magic Eden Marketplace.
