Case Study: The Ordinals Explosion
Bitcoin NFTs were considered impossible. Then Ordinals changed everything.
Background
Bitcoin was designed for one thing: money. It wasn't supposed to support NFTs, smart contracts, or tokens.
But in January 2023, Casey Rodarmor launched Ordinals.
What Are Ordinals?
Ordinals assign a unique number to every satoshi (the smallest Bitcoin unit). By attaching data to specific satoshis, you can create "inscriptions" - essentially NFTs on Bitcoin.
Key Innovation
Unlike Ethereum NFTs that point to external data, inscriptions store content directly on Bitcoin's blockchain. True permanence.
The Explosion
Timeline
- Jan 2023: Ordinals launches
- Feb 2023: First 10k collection (Bitcoin Punks)
- Mar 2023: BRC-20 tokens emerge
- May 2023: 10M+ inscriptions
- Late 2023: Bitcoin fees spike massively
- 50M+ total inscriptions
- $1B+ in trading volume
- Bitcoin fees at multi-year highs
- Bitcoin's brand - The most trusted blockchain
- True scarcity - Stored on-chain forever
- New narrative - Bitcoin does more than money
- Fresh start - No legacy baggage from Ethereum NFTs
- Increases Bitcoin's utility
- Generates miner revenue
- Brings new users
- Wastes block space
- Increases fees for payments
- Not what Bitcoin is for
- Constraints breed creativity - Limitation spawned innovation
- Brand matters - Bitcoin's credibility transferred
- Timing is everything - Bear market = builders build
- Controversy drives attention - Debate creates awareness
- Layer 2 solutions for Ordinals
- More sophisticated token standards
- Cross-chain bridges
- Infrastructure maturation
Numbers
Why It Worked
Controversy
Ordinals sparked heated debate:
For:
Against:
Lessons
What's Next
Watch for:
Sometimes the most obvious impossible thing becomes the next big thing.