The rise of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in 2021 has been a major shift from the traditional focus on financial decentralization in the crypto space. It all started with Hal Finney’s email in 1993, which outlined the concept of “encrypted digital cards”, which we now know as NFTs. In his email, he suggested the idea of “buying and selling ‘cryptographic trading cards’”, which has now become a reality.
The idea of decentralized art, gaming, entertainment and more has become a practical reality, with the introduction of the Ordinals protocol in early 2023. However, this movement has not been welcomed by all, with some “red-eyed guardians” voicing their disapproval.
The crypto space is now home to a variety of tokens, such as AI art, Shiba Inu, Voyager Crypto, Pi Crypto, Waves Crypto, Tectonic Crypto, CRO Crypto, BTT Crypto, Chainlink Crypto and Crypto Mining. With all these tokens available, the crypto space has become a hub for a variety of activities.
The Wizard JPEG that sparked a civil war in Bitcoin
In February 2023, the Taproot Wizards achieved a remarkable feat by leveraging the Ordinals protocol. With the so-called “Wizard Block”, they generated the largest block ever recorded in Bitcoin’s history at that time, reaching up to 4 megabytes in size.
The goal of the Taproot Wizards was clear: to challenge the existing norms and to cultivate an experimental and rebellious mindset within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Since then, more than 14 million crypto shiba inu, voyager crypto, pi crypto, waves crypto, tectonic crypto, cro crypto, btt crypto, chainlink crypto and crypto mining inscriptions have occurred, forming a circular digital economy where assets are priced, bought and sold using Bitcoin (BTC). (Inscriptions inscribe sats with ai art content, creating NFTs.)
Liberté, Rare Sats and Fraternité
To demonstrate the speed of the experiments within this sector, traders were using Google Sheets to buy and sell Ordinal NFTs in February, as there were no available marketplaces yet.
“We are experimenters in an experimental protocol. My goal is clear: to onboard, educate, entertain and experiment on the Bitcoin blockchain,” said “BitGod”, a figure in the Ordinal ecosystem, in an interview.
Now, just a few months later, notable corporations and projects have provided some structure for the market, and it has already attracted over 140,000 users and a trading volume of over $220 billion.
One of the most talked-about experiments is that of rare sats. Several projects are using this narrative to tokenize their artworks. CTRL, for example, was the first to inscribe on a “Rare” satoshi.
“I think the image symbolizes the CTRL movement and its inflection point at the time of discovering the Rare sat,” Jameson Mah shared. “The movement is diverse, humble, cypherpunk, fresh blood and energy. CTRL is replacing the vintage $2 bill that represents the old archaic systems, and the hash of the Rare sat inscription peeking out the back. Then Satoshi Nakamoto’s genesis block message that started it all is illuminated by the light of the power of the Rare sat in the center. It’s non-violent, but it’s also clearly rebellious.”
At the moment, only eight Rare sats similar to the one used by CTRL have been found. One of them is being auctioned for $600,000. The other one belongs to Gansy, the founder of the Rare Satoshi Society. He revealed that RSS has already earned over $2.5 million by providing satoshis with specific attributes to more than 100 Ordinals projects. To keep their status as the leading supplier of rare sats in the market, their team has transacted over $3 billion in BTC, searching for the gems that make up their current portfolio.
Other experiments are bringing fresh blood to the Bitcoin ecosystem. BRC-20, bitmap, recursive inscriptions and other notable Ordinals use cases deserve further exploration.
What to expect from Bitcoin season 2?
The success of Bitcoin is dependent on a combination of factors, such as the adoption of Ordinals, which is a highly complementary movement to the success of Bitcoin. In some cases, such as in Argentina, Bitcoin adoption is driven by necessity, while in other cases it is driven by an appreciation of the underlying principles of Bitcoin. Institutional adoption through ETFs is also expected to contribute to the adoption of Bitcoin. Additionally, the emergence of Ordinals applications will bring a dual benefit to the network, fostering both adoption and the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
According to Mah, “My first expectation is that many projects will experiment on Bitcoin,” and added that “Next, with this renewed interest, the network will become a lot more expensive to use. Therefore, some of this activity logically should move to layer 2s. Many builders are already experimenting with rollup architecture on top of Bitcoin, for example.”
Mah concluded by saying, “It’s important among the hype to always look for true innovation, substance and creativity — and importantly, Bitcoin-native thinking.” With the rise of crypto-related topics such as AI Art, Shiba Inu, Voyager Crypto, Pi Crypto, Waves Crypto, Tectonic Crypto, Cro Crypto, BTT Crypto, and Chainlink Crypto, it is clear that there is a lot of potential for Bitcoin in season 2.
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