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The introduction of Ordinal Theory has birthed a new type of NFT inscribed directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, ushering in a new era of on-chain Bitcoin NFTs.
Read on to learn about what Ordinals are, how they enable the creation of Bitcoin NFTs and discover a list of five popular Bitcoin Ordinals NFT collections worth checking out.
What Are Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs?
Created by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor, Ordinal Theory is a numbering scheme that gives every Satoshi a number, allowing for each sat to be tracked and transferred. These numbers are referred to as Ordinals, and each Ordinal is numbered in the order they are mined.
The creation of Ordinals enables digital assets, such as security tokens, stablecoins, or NFTs, to be attached to an Ordinal.
Through a process called inscribing, Ordinals can be inscribed with content (such as image or video files) to create on-chain crypto collectibles, which Rodarmor refers to as digital artifacts. These digital artifacts have now widely become known as Bitcoin NFTs.
The difference between common NFTs found on Ethereum, and other smart contract-enabled layer-1 chains, are that this new type of Bitcoin NFT is stored forever directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, whereas traditional NFTs are stored in a third-party database and collectors essentially only have ownership of the link to that file in their crypto wallet.
Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs are, therefore, much more appealing for collectors who are looking to hold their NFTs for a long period of time as they won’t have to worry about their NFT disappearing.
5 Popular Bitcoin Ordinals NFT Collections
Let’s look at some of the Bitcoin NFT collections that emerged as favorites in the early days of the Ordinals NFTs market.
Bitcoin Shrooms
Bitcoin Shrooms tops our list as one of the first Bitcoin Ordinals NFT collections to be created. The first shroom was Inscription 19, created by an unknown group of people, which alludes to the mystery and anonymity of the Bitcoin blockchain. Currently, only 210 Bitcoin Shrooms are inscribed into the Bitcoin blockchain, which are referred to as ‘Digital Artifacts’ on their site.
The Shrooms collection is yet to be auctioned or sold by its owners, with the collection’s Twitter page stating that its Discord page has been closed. With that, many collectors are excited for when the Shrooms finally go on sale.
Ordinal Punks
The second Bitcoin Ordinals collection that is gaining popularity is the Ordinal Punks collection which pays homage to the famous Crypto Punks collection of NFTs. Ordinal Punks has 100 different ‘punk’ characters, with the first Ordinal Punk recorded as inscription 642 on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Currently, the collection, created by an anonymous person known as FlowStay, is on sale, with the lowest bid being 3.7 BTC while the highest is at 50 BTC (although it's hard to verify whether these bids are legitimate). The sales are currently being managed on the collection’s Discord channel, and a shared Google sheet with a list of the bids!
Taproot Wizards Ordinals
The Taproot Wizards are a hand-drawn collection of 2101 Wizards created by the developer Udi Wertheimer in cooperation with Luxor, one of the biggest Bitcoin mining companies. This collection is known for the biggest transaction ever processed on the Bitcoin network, with the first inscription, inscription 652, occupying a space of 4MB.
Taproot Wizards are currently being shared, with some of the collection’s followers having received their wizards through tweeting corresponding to the 4MB block inscription. Most of the news on the project and distribution is communicated via the collection’s Twitter and Discord pages.
Ordinals Loops
The Ordinal Loops project is a Bitcoin Inscription collection that aims to have Bitcoin Artifacts representing the philosophy and ethos of Bitcoin and how the network brings change to the world.
The Ordinals team, whose members are unknown, has created two chapters in the project. The first is known as the ‘Do Not Fiat’ series. It depicts Bitcoin’s role in working against the major Fiat currencies. The second series is the ‘Roots of Immutability’ which pays homage to the seven hashes which have significantly impacted the Bitcoin network. The third collection is yet to be released.
The objects in the collection go on sale on the project’s Discord group, with one of the highest bids currently worth 4.178 BTC. However, Ordinal Loops donate parts of their earnings to Bitcoin-based projects like the Bitcoin Policy Institute, Open Sats Legal Defence Fund, and Casey Rodarmor’s 21st OpenDime. Further, object number 4 wasn’t sold to the public but, instead, is held collectively by a group of 21 people in what they call a ‘SATDAO.’
Ordinal Loops is considered one of the first inscriptions, with its first object being inscription 452.
Bitcoin Rocks Ordinals
Bitcoin Rocks have been created by Ordrocks and pay tribute to the famous ‘Ether Rocks’ collection, which was amongst the most prolific NFT collections on Ethereum. The collection holds one of the earliest inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain, with the first rock being inscription 71. Ordrocks has inscribed 100 Bitcoin Rocks since then.
Despite not having a website, the Bitcoin Rocks Ordinals have an active Discord group and a Twitter account that keeps people updated on the collection. The highest bid for a Bitcoin Rock is currently 1000 BTC, although it is hard to ascertain whether it is genuine.
Where to Store Your Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs?
To store your Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs, you currently only have the choice between a handful of Bitcoin wallets that provide Ordinal support.
Xverse has seemingly emerged as the most popular Bitcoin wallet to store and manage Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs. The wallet also allows you to inscribe Ordinals using the wallet's Chrome extension or mobile app, enabling anyone to create Bitcoin NFTs simply and easily.
Hiro Wallet, Sparrow Wallet, and Ordinals Wallet also enable you to store your Bitcoin Ordinals, with more wallets expected to follow suit given the fast-rising popularity of Ordinals.
While Bitcoin Ordinals are currently only traded over-the-counter (OTC), several NFT marketplaces are already working on supporting these new types of NFTs. Gamma, for example, already allows users to create image and text-based Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs and enables users to view Ordinals collections.
What Will the Future Hold?
As more Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs collections, it will be interesting to see what impact Ordinals will have on the Bitcoin network and the wider NFT collector community.
While some Bitcoiners are worried it could affect Bitcoin's mission of becoming the best money we've ever had, others believe the fact that they are bringing fun back to Bitcoin will be a net positive for Bitcoin adoption.