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Making Sense of Bitcoin Ordinals

Bitcoin is no longer just a digital currency. Over the past month, Bitcoin Ordinals have been taking the crypto art world by storm. While still technically advanced and not the most user-friendly, we are advocates of staying informed about emerging technology and its potential to uncover new revenue streams and communities for creators.

Let’s dive in.

What are Bitcoin Ordinals?

Ordinal inscriptions are digital assets inscribed on a satoshi, making them somewhat similar to NFTs… but not really. A satoshi is the lowest denomination of a Bitcoin — 1 Bitcoin is made up of 100M satoshis.

All of this was made possible by computer engineer Casey Rodarmor, who launched this protocol on January 21 of this year. Around 780,000 Ordinals exist at time of writing, a number that has been growing quickly despite the fact that most people simply don’t yet know how to buy them, let alone create them.

What’s the difference between Ordinals and NFTs?

NFTs as we know them often point to off-chain data on a decentralized file storage system, such as Interplanetary File System (IPFS) or Arweave. This data can be changed using dynamic metadata (which allows for dynamic NFTs), but this very ability to alter metadata is also viewed by some as a shortcoming.

On the other hand, data is inscribed directly on-chain for Ordinals, making it completely immutable for as long as Bitcoin exists. This is also why Ordinals are referred to as digital artifacts.

In fact, this quote from NFT historian Leonidas sums up beautifully why Bitcoin Ordinals could be monumental for our lifetime. We recommend you read their thread in its entirety here.

Accelerating Ordinal adoption

As revolutionary as Ordinals are, the infrastructure remains incredibly clunky. Thankfully, builders are innovating around the need for better user experience faster than ever.

A few of the initial limitations that have since been improved on, include:

#1: Wallet interfaces to facilitate storage and transfer of Ordinals

Up until recently, there was no designated wallet interface (i.e. like a MetaMask) for those who wanted a place to store and transfer their Bitcoin Ordinals. Today, there are 3 — Ordinals Wallet, Hiro Wallet, Xverse Wallet.

#2: Marketplaces to facilitate minting and transactions of Ordinals

Ordinals are hard to group into collections, simply because this structure isn’t possible on Bitcoin. So while the grouping of collections is done manually and off-chain, certain platforms are starting to consolidate that information, even though there remains room for human error and confusion.

Likewise, while some Ordinals are still being traded over-the-counter, i.e. through privately negotiated sales, Bitcoin marketplaces and minting launchpads are starting to emerge, such as Gamma.

Should I inscribe my art?

While a lot of the initial conversation around Ordinals was speculative in nature, the technology in itself and what it promises in terms of complete immutability has inspired new artistic creations on the blockchain.

This ranges from Yuga Labs’ generative art collection TwelveFold, which raised a whopping $16.5M, to independent artists looking to make history of their own.

It is also worth noting that the first attempt to bring art onto Bitcoin was with Rare Pepe back in 2014 through a platform called Counterparty. Fast forward to today, and it is clear that we have come a long way both culturally and technologically.

Wondering if you should start to inscribe your art? One consideration to have is that inscribing is inherently expensive due to the resource-intensiveness of putting data on-chain.

On the flip slide, exploring a new blockchain could open yourself up to a new community of collectors. This is not dissimilar to what we covered when introducing you to Tezos. While it remains to be seen how the Bitcoin art ecosystem will develop exactly, it is clear that an increasing number of artists are starting to explore putting their work on Bitcoin. Here are a few artists we recommend following — Grace.btc, Nickole.btc, and Natan.btc.

Closing Thoughts

Art and technology have never been so closely intertwined. While new technology can be scary and intimidating, we lean towards staying curious and being open to all the new possibilities it could create.

Want to learn more from the creators on Bitcoin themselves? Join us on Twitter Spaces Thursday at 4:30PM EST with Amanda from OnChainMonkey, Heather from CoinQueens, The Bored Ape Gazette, and artist Grymm to chat about why they have embraced the world of Ordinals.

In the News

Industry News

• Instagram has announced that it will be sunsetting its digital collectibles (NFTs) efforts to focus on other ways to support creators. Given that digital creators were releasing NFTs on Instagram just a few months ago, the news appears to be a shock across the Web3 community.

• Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced a bank failure on Thursday last week, sparking widespread industry fears, with knock-on effects on a number of startups and stablecoin USDC. This situation is still developing, so we recommend following Circle’s official Twitter account if you are holding onto USDC.

• Starbucks Odyssey, the company’s Web3 loyalty rewards program, launched its first limited edition NFT drop last week. Starbucks has been gradually rolling out Journeys as a way for their customers to deepen their relationship with the brand.

• More brands are rolling out NFT collections to explore the intersection of physical and digital, including North Face and YSL Beauty.

• Metaverse Fashion Week, which runs from March 28-31, continues to announce the involvement of more brands. Stay up to date with the latest here.

• Check out the recently announced up-and-coming musical artists from Latin America and Europe who were selected to participate in the first-of-its-kind Mastercard Artist Accelerator program.

• Is ASCII the new meta? Read more about how Owl NFTS are driving the resurgence behind this new trend.

Tools & Resources

• Find out more about how lessons learned from NFT project deaths can benefit both collectors and creators by reading our NFT Now’s full feature on the topic.

• Missed our artist marketing webinar last week featuring artist-founders Leah Sams, Fer Boccard, Gossamer Rozen, and collector Rebekah Bastian? We have a full recap for you here, alongside a link to the recording.

Notable Creators

• Renowned digital artist Beeple opened his Charleston gallery this weekend, which also marked the two year anniversary of his iconic sale at Christie’s. Lucky attendees got to experience interactive art in all shapes and forms.

• Looking to keep tabs on a group of amazing AI artists? Check out Kaloh’s recommendations here.

• Generative artist Tyler Hobbs announced his first solo exhibition with Unit London, which explores the interactions between man and machine. Hobbs is motivated by helping humanity develop a healthy relationship with computers to build beautiful things.

• Getty Unveils First NFT Drop - Featuring Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, and More.

Artist Grants & Opportunities

• Want to have your art showcased IRL in New York City? HUG is excited to announce a collaboration with 0x17 Gallery at the iconic Pier 17 in Manhattan. Apply for a HUG Artist Profile for a chance to get featured. More details in this tweet.

• Get featured in the Daily Ralpha, a Web3 newsletter with a daily circulation of 75K. All you have to do is apply for your own HUG artist profile, and submit your interest here.

• Applications are open for Meta Angels x Adobe’s artist-in-residence program, which gives you a $1,000 grant, access to Adobe Creative Cloud, mentorship, and more. April’s artist-in-residence will be shortlisted by March 15th. Learn more and apply here.

• Post your best work to Creatively every week, let the community vote, and stand a chance to win a $5,000 cash grant each month.

This Week’s Art Drops

• Embrace Equity by Melda, Amber Umber, AlyAsh, Holakanola, Nhefertiti, Aphrodita Wibowo, and Mel Arif (Timed Open Edition, 0.01 ETH): 7 artists have teamed up on a collaborative dynamic art piece in celebration of Women’s History Month. As each artist creates their part in the collaborative process, the NFT updates to allow collectors to participate in the creative process.

• Trying to Focus by Amber Vittoria (Timed Open Edition, 24 tez): Amber Vittoria releases her very first Tezos edition — a hand-painted piece that represents the evolution of her work pre-dating it.

• Kreisend by Yulvia Puradiredja (Timed Open Edition from March 16, $29): Part of a 3-piece collection titled Bewegend on Nifty Gateway that embodies the theme of transformation, with each piece illustrating a different moving situation of the journey towards personal growth and resilience.

• ˌmɪsˈfoʊ.kəs by DaisaTJ (1/1, 0.1 ETH): Part MISPLACED, Daisa’s collection of photographs and feelings in self-portraits. This piece, misfocus, speaks to directing one’s attention in the wrong way.

• Black Book Collection Series 2 by Ghost Club: Creative community by artist MUMBOT brings together 20 artists for the 2nd drop of Black Book Collection, which drops on OpenSea on March 15.

• Star Snatchers by Winmag (Timed Open Edition, 0.0369 ETH): Taken in the summer of 2019 on a hike to the summit of Kawah Ijen volcano, representing the power and unpredictability of nature.

• The Odd Observer #1 by Oddlavox (1/1, 0.1 ETH): Curated by #SundaySpotlight, a community initiative led by Avril15, this piece talks about how the odd observer always sees the invisible.

• Deep by Etkin (1/1, 0.05 ETH): Curated by #SundaySpotlight, a community initiative led by Avril15, this piece is a part of Etkin’s Precision Dreams collection.

Creator Spotlight: Wanjigallery

Wanjigallery is our Adobe Artist-in-Residence for the month of March.

She is a Kenyan woman, photographer and digital artist. Losing her job had led her to pursuing photography, which was when she discovered digital collage art.

Inspired by her life and environment in Kenya, both African culture and mental health are prominent themes in her body of work

Learn more about Wanjigallery from her HUG Artist Profile, or follow her directly on Twitter.