Bitcoin is back (and so is Pepe!)
Bitcoin’s value is not back to peak in 2021; However, the Bitcoin network saw the highest number of transactions ever, in its entire 14-year history, this past week. This means that Bitcoin is being used, and it is an encouraging sign for the crypto industry.
Just a few weeks ago we speculated “Is Crypto Dead?” to review the industry’s evolution and how its mainstream use and potentially a crossover with gaming, crypto-betting and other entertainment industries will drive long-term adoption.
Are we losing faith in big banks or just loving NFTs?
CoinDesk, in an article about Bitcoin’s new record, linked the increase in transactions to the story of the US First Republic bank acquisition, but called the timing “coincidental.” While many crypto supporters would be encouraged to see trust in digital assets increase at a time when conventional private banks are failing, this latest banking crisis likely did not trigger the high transaction rate.
Bitcoin NFTs are finally coming
Transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, when Bitcoin is mined, bought or sold, have increased since the launch of Bitcoin Ordinals. Bitcoin is a fungible coin, all Bitcoins are the same and can be traded for the same. This is in contrast to non-fungible tokens (NFT) which, with their embedded smart contract data, can all be different. Smart contract technology and indeed NFTs have emerged in recent years from blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, which have supported the technology.
Bitcoin Ordinals, Bitcoin NFTs or Ordinal Inscriptions, are similar to NFTs and are assets embedded in Bitcoin’s lowest denomination, Satoshi, and they became possible for the first time after “Taproot”, the November 2021 Bitcoin update.
In April 2023, users broke records, per decrypt, for creating Ordinal Inscriptions, when they created images, videos, games and other content, all using the Bitcoin network.
It’s taken almost ten years for developers to get NFT functionality on the very first blockchain and network that birthed the crypto industry, and it’s a real milestone for the technology. The Ordinal Inscription process, which inscribes the unique data of the Bitcoin transaction, stores the NFT information in a transaction’s “witness”. The SegWit upgrade to Bitcoin’s blockchain added witness technology and occurred in 2017. Designed to help Bitcoin scale and respond to a major problem for the network, the upgrade sent Bitcoin’s price soaring in the following weeks.
And, Pepe the Frog is also back!
It’s another coincidence for the industry Rare Pepe NFT creators Counterparty worked on Bitcoin NFT functionality back in 2014. Counterparty’s rare Pepes are now classified as a “historical NFT”, and part of NFT history. They were launched in 2016 and are one of the first art experiments on the blockchain.
Fast forward to 2023 and Pepe the Frog has also returned. A new meme coin, PEPE, was launched just two weeks ago and became popular overnight.
PEPE coin entered the top 100 cryptocurrency charts within two weeks and achieved a market cap of over $570 million which has now fallen back to around $240 million per CoinMarketCap.com. It even surpassed Dogecoin and Shiba Inu trading volumes. The PEPE coin is based on Ethereum, and Decrypt further reports that an investor’s crypto gamble on the new token turned into a win when they traded a $250 purchase to $1.02 million.
Bitcoin transaction volumes, and alt-coin overnight fame as with PEPE coin, indicate that the use of, and interest in, cryptocurrencies remains strong. In fact, interest is potentially rising again. Total market capitalization data tells us that confidence is not as high as it was at the end of 2021, but that the last few months may indicate that it is crypto spring again.
All of this is great news if you own or trade crypto, bet with NFTs or cryptos, or have your own collection of Pepe the Frog NFTs.
Featured Image Credit: Michael Förtsch via Unsplash.
