NEWSLETTER
The recent launch of a non-fungible token (NFT) protocol on the Bitcoin mainnet has divided the crypto community over whether it will be good for the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The protocol, known as “Ordinals,” was created by software engineer Casey Rodarmor, who officially launched the program on the Bitcoin mainnet following a January 21 blog post. to post.
The protocol essentially enables the Bitcoin version of NFTs, described as “digital artifacts” on the Bitcoin network.
These “digital artifacts” may include images similar to JPEG, PDF, video, and audio formats.
However, the introduction of the protocol has divided the Bitcoin community, with some arguing that it would offer more financial use cases for Bitcoin, while others say that it is moving away from Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of Bitcoin as a cash system between peers.
Bitcoin bull Dan Held was among those who agreed with the development, noting that it would boost demand for block space and therefore fees, while also bringing more use cases to Bitcoin.
Because is good:
– Brings more financial use cases to Bitcoin
– Drives higher demand for block space (aka fees)My take:
– If you pay a tx fee, it’s not spam.
– Bitcoin is not permissioned. I can’t stop anyone from building it anyway.—Dan Held (@danheld) January 29, 2023
some have pointed that these NFT-like structures have taken up block space on the Bitcoin network, potentially increasing transaction fees.
LAST MINUTE: NFTs activated #BITCOIN
Ordinals take up most of the BLOCKSPACE pic.twitter.com/Gxwq4vV8MI
— Bitcoin News
(@BitcoinNewsCom) January 29, 2023
These include “Bitcoin is Saving” on Twitter, suggestion told his 237,600 followers on Jan. 29 that the desire of “privileged rich whites” to put up JPEG files as status symbols may exclude marginalized people from participating in the Bitcoin network.
Cryptocurrency researcher Eric Wall in disagreement with the opinion that the built-in block size limit will prevent an increase in transaction fees.
Others, like Blockstream CEO and Bitcoin lead developer Adam Back, was not happy about the arrival of meme culture in Bitcoin, who suggested developers take the “stupidity” elsewhere:
“you can’t stop them” alright ofc! bitcoin is designed to be censorship resistant. does not prevent us from commenting gently on the sheer waste and stupidity of a coding. at least do something efficient. otherwise it’s another block space thingy consumption test.
—Adam Back (@adam3us) January 29, 2023
However, Ethereum bull and The Daily Gwei host Anthony Sassano shot the CEO of Blockstream for wanting to see “undesirable” transactions censored, which many believe goes against the spirit of Bitcoin:
Adam Back and Luke Dashjr are core Bitcoin developers who have encouraged censorship over the last 48 hours of these “undesirable” transactions.
So no, it’s not just Bitcoin maximalists, but real Bitcoin core developers.
— sassal.eth (@sassal0x) January 30, 2023
Related: Stack Ecosystem Becomes #1 Web3 Project on Bitcoin
In a blog post, Rodarmor explained that NFT-like structures are created by enrolling satoshis, the native currency of the Bitcoin network, with arbitrary content.
These enrolled satoshis, which are cryptographically represented by a string of numbers, can be protected or transferred to other Bitcoin addresses, according to the notes in the Ordinal whitepaper:
“The inscription is done by sending the satoshi to be inscribed in a transaction that reveals the content of the inscription on the chain. This content is then inextricably linked to that satoshi, making it an immutable digital artifact that can be tracked, transferred, hoarded, bought, sold, lost, and rediscovered.”
Enrollments are done on the main Bitcoin network, no sidechain or separate token is needed, the document claims.
Signups are finally ready for the Bitcoin mainnet.
Enrollments are like NFTs, but they are true digital artifacts: decentralized, immutable, always on-chain, and native to Bitcoin. https://t.co/a4dK7zdITS
—Casey Rodarmor (@rodarmor) January 20, 2023
It appears that only 277 digital artifacts have been signed up so far, according to the Ordinals website.
Interestingly, Rodarmor, admitted on August 25 interview on the Hell Money Podcast that Ordinals was created to bring Bitcoin memes to life:
“This is 100% meme-driven development.”
