CryptoPunks, on Bitcoin?! How NFTs on Bitcoin are unlike any other

You read that right. There are currently 10,000 ‘Bitcoin CryptoPunks’ who have just completed the process of being minted this week. They are apparently exactly as advertised: CryptoPunk NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain. And yes, we are already seeing sales of these NFTs in the tens, and even hundreds of thousands of USD.

However, these are far from your run of the mill NFTs – and the lack of Bitcoin’s smart contracts is likely to be a stark reminder of how valuable Ethereum and other smart contract interface chains really are.

Let’s take a look at the latest “bit of chaos” in NFTs.

Not Your Usual CryptoPunks: What NFTs on Bitcoin Are All About

On Thursday, the last Bitcoin coins were minted via a free, open mint. However, that does not necessarily mean that they were available. But before we get into access and coining, many readers are probably muttering, “wait a minute, we never had NFTs before Ethereum and smart contracts… what happened?”

Creators build NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain by assigning what are called “ordinals” to each satoshi. The order lists are linked to information such as text, images, videos, etc. – effectively creating NFTs on Bitcoin. Essentially, this process is to assign metadata to satoshis.

There is no “token standard”, like Ethereum’s ERC standard, and inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain are completely permanent and immutable. However, an ordinary inscription psuedo explorer is available.

This concept is completely new and did not exist more than a month ago. There is no clear first mover, we live in practice in place of one of the Bitcoin NFTs – but of course that means there is no infrastructure either. No wallets built for this, no marketplaces that support this type of activity, no real established tools to “mine” these Bitcoin NFTs.

Bitcoin (BTC) is not a blockchain we often mention when talking about NFTs. | Source: BTC-USD on TradingView.com

Mintin’ Ain’t Easy

Although we are very much in a “testing” phase of Bitcoin Inscriptions, the interest is clearly palpable – so don’t be surprised to see more tools and infrastructure begin to roll out to support the creation of Inscriptions. Meanwhile, how has this rise of Bitcoin CryptoPunks come about?

While there was a bot available for a short time, it is widely believed that most Bitcoin Punk holders gained access to them by being node operators. Proprietors advised to only keep words in dedicated wallets with no other BTC in them – with users primarily setting up dedicated Bitcoin-native Sparrow wallets.

Will Bitcoin maxis effectively onboard NFTs? Will ordinals be a “relic” of NFTs in the long run, or a short-term fad that will eventually be forgotten? Can ‘Bitcoin CryptoPunks’ Finally Serve As Influential As OG CryptoPunks? There are a lot of questions, but it’s always fun to see new innovation and twists in crypto – especially around the oft-discussed “dinosaur” of Bitcoin. Only time will tell how it shapes up. In the meantime, for those interested, be safe on OTC trades as the lack of infrastructure means scammers and tricksters are running amok, looking to take advantage of over-excited potential buyers of this new generation of CryptoPunks.