The Bitcoin network has witnessed a surge in transactions, with over 2.5 million ordinals recorded, setting a new daily record. This spike in activity indicates the growing popularity and adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment and investment. As more users participate in the network, there is potential for further growth in the cryptocurrency market.
Ordinals Breaks Records: Over 200,000 Inscriptions in a Day
The protocol used for inscribing digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, Ordinals, reached a new milestone last weekend. On Saturday, a total of around 223,000 inscriptions were made, marking the first time over 200,000 inscriptions were made in a single day. This new record suggests that the protocol is as popular as ever as it enters its fifth month since launch.
Ordinals.com is a protocol that allows people to inscribe content such as images or text to individual satoshis, the smallest denomination that a Bitcoin can be divided into. The content is stored directly and permanently on Bitcoin’s blockchain, which distinguishes Ordinals from NFTs (non-fungible tokens) that are minted using smart contracts on decentralized protocols like Ethereum or Solana. NFTs represent the ownership of an item, often digital art.
The growing popularity of Ordinals is partly due to the creation of fungible tokens under the BRC-20 standard, which enables the creation of tokens on Bitcoin in a way that’s analogous to what one can do on Ethereum. Since its kick-off by a pseudonymous on-chain data enthusiast in March, close to 6,900 tokens have launched using the standard. These tokens include several meme tokens with multi-million dollar market caps.
Additionally, Ordinals is opening the door to activity on Bitcoin in other ways, such as the Sats Name (.sats) standard that resembles name services built on Ethereum. However, the high number of inscription-generated BRC-20 tokens is a concern for some. Ordinals Project Communications Director Isabel Foxen Duke expressed concern that the number of inscriptions could be inflated by a flood of inscription-generated BRC-20 tokens which are highly insecure and may pose a risk to retail investors.
Despite the risks associated with some projects embracing the BRC-20 standard, Ordinals’ growing popularity indicates that Bitcoin’s potential is far from fulfilled. As the self-described NFT historian @LeonidasNFT puts it, “ever since the release of the ordinals protocol, innovation on Bitcoin has been increasing exponentially.”