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Everything you need to know about Bitcoin NFT
In recent times, the world has witnessed a rise in the popularity of NFTs and the new opportunities they provide. While Ethereum has traditionally been the go-to platform for NFTs, the rise of Bitcoin NFTs has created a buzz in the NFT and crypto community. A unique digital collection created using the Bitcoin blockchain is Ordinal Punks. The collection consists of 100 unique profile pictures (PFPs) minted within the first 650 inscriptions and completely on-chain on the Bitcoin blockchain. Although they have become highly sought after digital assets in the NFT space, there is some debate as to whether Ordinal Punks are true NFTs or not.
In this guide, we will explain everything you might want to know about Ordinal Punks, Bitcoin NFTs and the controversy surrounding the collection.
What are Bitcoin NFTs?
First, let’s take a look at what Bitcoin NFTs actually are. Essentially, Bitcoin NFTs are unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. Like other blockchain networks, the Bitcoin blockchain is a secure and decentralized network that records transactions. Casey Rodarmor, a software engineer, added the Ordinals protocol to the Bitcoin blockchain. Clearly, this protocol allows users and developers to add Ordinals to each of the 100,000,000 units that make up one Bitcoin. ‘Sats’ or ‘satoshis’ are the collective term for these units. Moreover, this data can include smart contracts, which enable the creation of NFTs on the blockchain. Essentially, the Ordinals protocol provides a way for creators to build NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain.
What are Ordinal Punk’s NFTs?
Basically, Ordinal Punks is a collection of Bitcoin NFTs. In particular, this collection pays tribute to CryptoPunks, an NFT collection on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Ordinal Punk NFT is a unique piece of digital art. The collection consists of 100 unique PFPs (Profile Pictures) minted within the first 650 inscriptions and completely on-chain on the Bitcoin blockchain. But what exactly is an inscription? Essentially, inscriptions are digital artifacts, such as an image or text, made on the protocol.
How was Ordinal Punks created?
Ordinal Punks is a unique digital collection created using the Ordinals protocol. The collection is made within the first 650 inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain and was created by the pseudonymous Web3 creator FlowStay. In addition, each NFT is generated through an algorithmic process. This process uses a number of factors and results in a unique combination of colors, shapes and patterns. Furthermore, the use of Bitcoin Ordinals provides each NFT with a permanent, verifiable identity on the Bitcoin blockchain, making it easily traceable and authenticated. Bitcoin’s Segregated Witness, commonly known as SegWit, and the Taproot upgrade made it possible to store NFT data on-chain. Significantly, this allows unlimited transaction sizes. To buy, sell or trade an Ordinal Punk, users must run a full node on the Bitcoin blockchain. This means that in order to do this, you need to be crypto-savvy!
How much are Ordinal Punks worth?
Ordinal Punk’s NFTs have become highly sought after digital assets in the NFT space. They are priced around $100,000, but one NFT, Punk 94, is selling for a whopping $214,000 or 9.5 BTC. Surprisingly, an NFT collector traded an original CryptoPunk for an Ordinal Punk, causing a stir in the NFT space. Since CryptoPunks is often referred to as the first project in NFT history, many questioned whether the switch was a wise decision, even though the value of both projects was roughly the same at the time of the switch.
How are Ordinal Punks valued?
Ordinal Punks are valued based on various factors such as their rarity, uniqueness, historical significance and collector demand. The market determines the price of an Ordinal Punk NFT, with some selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In addition, the fact that Ordinal Punks are created using Bitcoin blockchain technology and have a permanent, verifiable identity increases. The value of an Ordinal Punk is likely to fluctuate over time, based on market demand and other factors.
So, are Ordinal Punks NFTs or not?
Casey Rodarmor, creator of Ordinals, said this in a blog post. “Inscriptions are digital artifacts, and digital artifacts are NFTs, but not all NFTs are digital artifacts. Digital artifacts are NFTs held to a higher standard, closer to their ideal.”
However, NFT enthusiasts have a different opinion. Some argue that Ordinal Punks are not true NFTs because they lack programmability, which limits their potential use. Trading the collection is also complicated. Due to the fact that Bitcoin NFTs are still in the early stages, there is no infrastructure or marketplaces available to support it. Instead, users purchase the digital artifacts peer-to-peer over the counter via Ordinal Punk’s Discord.
In general, the concept of Bitcoin NFTs has caused a stir in the Web3 community. Bitcoin maximalists often reject the idea of using Bitcoin for anything other than financial transactions, such as creating NFTs. They believe that NFTs and other non-financial use cases of Bitcoin are not valuable and distract from Bitcoin’s main purpose as a decentralized currency. However, some members of the Bitcoin community see the rise of Bitcoin-based NFTs as a positive development. In contrast, they believe that Bitcoin NFTs can bring more attention, use cases and drive further development on the Bitcoin blockchain. The popularity of the Ordinal Protocol and the high prices of Ordinal Punk NFTs have sparked a debate in the Bitcoin community about the value of Bitcoin NFTs and their potential for the future of the blockchain.
The future of Ordinal Punks
It is difficult to predict the exact future of the NFT collection. This is because it depends on various factors, including the general demand for NFTs and the adoption of the Ordinal Protocol. However, some enthusiasts believe that Ordinal Punks could become very valuable digital assets. This is because of their scarcity and unique identity on the Bitcoin blockchain. Additionally, as more people become interested in NFTs and the underlying blockchain technology, it is possible that the demand for Ordinal Punks will increase. Overall, the future of the project is likely to be shaped by the ongoing development of the NFT space and the wider use of blockchain technology.
