Taproot Wizards burst onto the scene as the fresh new face of the Ordinals block, with ambitions to become so much more than your average generative avatar project. The project’s tagline is “Make Bitcoin Magical Again” and the artwork pays homage to the storied past of the Bitcoin community. Taproot Wizards has completely shattered the still-evolving Bitcoin NFT ecosystem in one fell swoop. But, not everyone is happy.
What is Taproot Wizards?
Taproot Wizards has revolutionized the Bitcoin NFT ecosystem with their inventive new perspective. On February 18, 2023, they fully revealed the collection, which features 2,121 unique items, Wizard-themed ordinals. Despite not yet being minted, the collection has received praise for its innovative approach to incorporating Bitcoin history. Specifically, the Bitcoin Wizard.
The artist, mavensbot, originally uploaded Bitcoin Wizard as a drawing turned into an ar/Bitcoin meme on Reddit. It depicts a magician with the words “magic internet money – join us.” This happened exactly ten years before the Taproot Wizards revealed themselves and quickly became an icon within the crypto community. At first, Taproot Wizards seemed to have been inspired only by the iconic Bitcoin Wizard when creating their PFP project. However, mavensbot, the original creator of Bitcoin Wizard, was involved in designing the art for the new collection.
Udi Wertheimer, developer and cryptocurrency advocate, shared his story this week. He said the creator of the original Bitcoin wizard meme raised 6 BTC, or about $150,000. He explained how he and Taproot Wizards helped mavensbot issue and sell a collection of ordinal inscriptions to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his artwork. In addition, the artist received support through Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. This is a great victory in the eyes of many. However, bitcoin maximalists are less impressed.
Criticism of Bitcoin Maximalists
Wertheimer, a Bitcoin native, aimed to shake up the seemingly stagnant Bitcoin community with the release of Taproot Wizards. To make a statement, he made the largest block and transaction in Bitcoin history on February 1, achieving the absolute maximum BTC block size of 4MB. Previously, many thought that this was impossible.
However, not all were satisfied. In particular, Bitcoin maximalists who were already against ordinals due to blockchain congestion and various other reasons. Wertheimer stated that maximalists strongly dislike ordinal inscriptions because they have considered NFTs to be malevolent. He noted that he doesn’t expect everyone to appreciate Ordinals, but he does believe in the pursuit of innovation and disagrees with Bitcoin’s current ethos of perfectionism. Despite the disapproval, Wertheimer maintains that most Bitcoin users do not share these views, and the Taproot Wizards are just one aspect of Wertheimer’s plan to bring innovation back to Bitcoin.
Could Taproot Wizards be the next big thing in the NFT world? While the future success of the project is still uncertain, one thing is clear. Udi Wertheimer’s innovative approach is destined to have a massive impact on the Bitcoin blockchain beyond a simple collection of PFPs.
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