Since its launch in January 2023, Ordinals – the protocol created by Casey Rodarmor – has created new waves in the Bitcoin community. This protocol operates on the Bitcoin platform, allowing unique numbers to be assigned to each satoshi (satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC). This opens up the possibility of “etching” data such as text, images, even videos onto a single satoshi, allowing users to exchange and trade them.
Ordinals là gì?
Ordinals can be understood as a form of NFT on Bitcoin. The “engraving” process is done through a transaction, in which the user adds content to the “witness data” portion of the transaction. This asset will be tied to a specific satoshi.
Satoshi, also known as “sat”, is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC.
Ordinals is based on “sequence theory,” a system that differentiates individual satoshis by assigning them an ordinal number based on when they were mined. According to the Ordinals system, each satoshi is unique and has a unique number.
The ability to distinguish individual satoshis has led to the emergence of the concept of “rare satoshis” – satoshis that are valued more highly than common satoshis. Rodamor has introduced a system for classifying rare satoshis based on when they were created, including levels: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Legendary and Mythic. For example, one “Epic” satoshi created at the time of Bitcoin Halving in 2024 was sold for 33.6 BTC, equivalent to more than 2 million USD.
Besides Rodamor's system, Bitcoin community members also create satoshi categories based on historical events such as “Vintage”, “Nakamoto”, “Block 9/78”, “Pizza” and “Hitman ”,…
Some of the most famous Ordinals collections include:
NodeMonkes: First 10,000 Ordinals collection, “engraved” February 2023. Each NodeMonke has unique characteristics with varying rarity levels. The current floor price of this collection is 0.3 BTC (about 24,000 USD).
Ordinals NodeMonkes Collection
TwelveFold: Collection released by Yuga Labs, includes 300 works of art that combine hand-drawn images and 3D graphics. Total revenue from the auction was approximately 735 BTC (equivalent to 16 million USD at the time).
Ordinals TwelveFold Collection
Bitcoin Puppets: Collection known for its humorous style and friendly community. The current floor price is 0.18 BTC.
Bitcoin Puppets list on Magic Eden exchange
Ordinal Maxi Biz (OMB): Collection created by artist Tony Tafuro and bitcoiner ZK_Shark, includes more than 5000 works.
Oridnals Maxi Biz list on Magic Eden floor How to trade Ordinals
Ordinals can be bought and sold on online exchanges or peer-to-peer on platforms like Discord or Telegram. Exchanges like Magic Eden allow users to browse listings, filtering by rarity, trading volume, and value.
Here are the top four exchanges for Ordinals:
Magic Eden: Multi-chain NFT exchange, allowing users to mint and trade Ordinals once they are categorized by collections.
UniSat: Exchange on the Bitcoin network, supporting trading of Ordinals, BRC20 tokens and Atomicals.
Ordinals Wallet: Community-funded exchange that allows users to trade Ordinals, as well as Doge tokens and Bells.
Gamma: Exchange and launchpad, allowing users to create, trade and auction Ordinals in a decentralized manner.
How to Store NFT Ordinals
There are many wallets that allow users to store Ordinals and interact with exchanges. Some wallets support multi-chain, allowing users to transact on blockchains other than Bitcoin.
Here are some of the most commonly used wallets:
Xverse: Non-custodial and open source wallet, allowing users to connect to multiple exchanges such as Ordinals Wallet, Magic Eden, supporting Stacks NFTs and BRC-20 tokens. Xverse is available on mobile apps for Apple and Google Play, as well as a browser extension for Chrome.
UniSat: Open source wallet in the form of Chrome browser extension, dedicated to “engraving” on Bitcoin, supporting ARC-20 tokens. Early UniSat supporters received a “UniSat OG Pass” that allowed for reduced exchange service fees and “engraving.”
Leather: Non-custodial wallet, open source and audited, currently only available as a browser wallet. Coming soon, Leather will support LN (Lightning Network) transactions, allowing users to instantly switch between Stacks and Bitcoin.
Phantom: Non-custodial multi-chain wallet supporting Ethereum, Polygon and Bitcoin, allowing users to trade, transfer and receive BTC, BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals. Phantom also features extra protection for rare satoshis so users don't accidentally spend them. Ordinals exchanges that support Phantom are Magic Eden and UniSat.
Runes: Tokens on Bitcoin
Runes is a token creation protocol on Bitcoin developed by Casey Rodarmor – the same person behind Ordinals. Runes uses the Ordinals protocol to create fungible tokens, similar to ERC20 tokens. The goal of Runes is to replace the “engraving”-based BRC-20 token standard, helping to minimize the number of unnecessary UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Outputs), thereby reducing the load on the Bitcoin network.
Runestone Airdrop
Leonidas, founder of Ord.io and NFT Twitter influencer, launched the largest Ordinals airdrop ever, called Runestones on Bitcoin.
Runestones NFT Challenge with Ordinals
Ordinals is causing a lot of controversy in the Bitcoin community. A significant portion of the community, including core Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr, believes that Ordinals not only clogs Bitcoin's mempool, but also causes Bitcoin to deviate from its goal of being a purely decentralized currency . Ordinals is even noted as a security vulnerability in Bitcoin, as CVE-2023-50428.
However, many people believe that this is not an error in the source code. Core Bitcoin developer Peter Todd objected to modifying Luke's source code, arguing that it would lead to the formation of private mempools, disadvantage small miners, and reduce the reliability of estimates. transaction fees.
Finally, some members of the Bitcoin community, including developers and traders, oppose the removal of Ordinals because they believe it is a valuable innovation. Many artists were excited to be able to display their artwork on Bitcoin. Additionally, increasing transaction fees due to Ordinals trading activity could be a long-term solution to the “fee problem”, i.e. Bitcoin could continue to incentivize miners, even after block rewards end .
Conclude
Ordinals is a protocol that has caused a lot of debate and controversy since its launch in early 2023. Although traders and investors value this sector of the Bitcoin ecosystem in the millions la, but the broader Bitcoin community is still divided on the future of Ordinals. Will Ordinals continue to see multi-million dollar auctions and be an integral part of Bitcoin's blockchain space? The answer remains open, but this revolution in Bitcoin will certainly continue to attract the world's attention.
