Bitcoin Surpasses 65 Million Ordinals Inscriptions
11 Apr, 2024 ● Coin news
The Bitcoin network has reached a new milestone with over 65 million Ordinals inscriptions, achieving this feat shortly before the eagerly awaited Bitcoin halving event.
As of April 11, the count of Ordinals inscriptions hit the 65 million mark, achieving this less than 15 months after their introduction in January 2023, as per data from Dune.
Ordinals, representing the inaugural wave of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Bitcoin, exist exclusively on the Bitcoin blockchain, setting them apart from many current NFT collections which rely on centralized servers for hosting their metadata and thus introduce additional security risks.
This achievement precedes the upcoming Bitcoin halving, scheduled for around April 19, which will decrease the block rewards from 6.25 Bitcoin to 3.125 BTC.
According to Dune, Ordinals have contributed more than $458 million in network fees to Bitcoin miners to date, marking a crucial support mechanism for miners with the halving on the horizon.
The achievement of the 65 million inscriptions highlights the growing demand for Bitcoin’s block space and indicates the necessity for further development of Bitcoin layer-2 networks. Mithil Thakore, CEO of Velar, commented to Cointelegraph:
“As ordinals become more prevalent, the need for utility around them through lending, derivatives markets, becomes evident. This trend will likely drive the rise of Bitcoin L2s, offering the programmability needed to support smart contracts to bring these ordinals as well as BTC to DeFi [decentralized finance]. It’s an exciting time for the Bitcoin ecosystem as we witness its evolution and expansion into new realms of functionality.”
Bitcoin decentralized finance (BTCFi) is emerging as a new model aiming to integrate DeFi capabilities into the Bitcoin network, potentially aligning with the level of innovation found in Ethereum-based DeFi. Nash Lee, co-founder of MerlinSwap, shared with Cointelegraph:
“[Market appetite] is seeking expansive platforms capable of accommodating the surging volumes and expectations. DeFi stands out as the only sector with the potential to leverage this narrative, providing a sustainable ecosystem for Bitcoin’s evolving use cases. This dynamic sets the stage for Bitcoin DeFi to potentially match, if not exceed, the innovation and complexity seen in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.”
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-65-million-ordinals-8-days-before-halving
