Summary
TLDR: Ordinals, a new Bitcoin-native NFT standard, have caused controversy in the Bitcoin community, with critics calling them an attack on Bitcoin or just “shitcoins”. Miners, however, have embraced Ordinals as they have boosted mining profitability. Ordinals have impacted hashprice, blockspace, and mining economics, leading to discussions about Bitcoin’s future. BRC-20 tokens, a form of Ordinals, have led to fee wars and increased transaction fees indirectly, benefiting miners. While Ordinals have been a blessing for miners, they have caused challenges for everyday Bitcoin users who need to send transactions. Ultimately, blockspace is an open market, and everyone has the right to use it as they see fit.
Key Points
1. Miners have embraced Ordinals as they provided a revenue boost at a time when mining income was low.
2. Inscriptions are actual on-chain data, uploaded directly to Bitcoin’s blockchain, making them a pure form of NFT.
3. Inscriptions have led to indirect fee pressure on other transactions, resulting in transaction fee overpayment and congestion in the mempool.