What Are Bitcoin NFTs
Historically, the Bitcoin blockchain was only used for payment transactions; however, a new contentious protocol known as the Ordinals protocol has recently emerged, introducing on-chain, Bitcoin-native NFTs or Bitcoin Ordinals to the largest crypto network by market capitalization.
On the Bitcoin blockchain, over 50,000 Ordinals have been created so far. Ordinals Bitcoin NFTs are explained in detail, including how they work and how they differ from regular NFTs.
What are Ordinals NFTs
Ordinals is a new protocol for effectively minting non-fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. Ordinal NFTs are built into Bitcoin and do not require a new or separate side chain or token to operate. In addition, unlike most other NFT standards, they store the entire NFT image or content on-chain, not just a link or reference to it.
How Do Ordinals NFTs Work
The Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs are distinguished from other NFTs by two key characteristics:
To begin, every Ordinal inscription is classified as a “digital artefact” because it is said to be immutable and permanently stored on the Bitcoin blockchain. Ordinals, unlike other NFT projects on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Ethereum (ETH), or Solana (SOL), stores the entire image or content on-chain, rather than just a link to a centralized database where metadata can be changed or deleted by the smart contract creator, especially if data is hosted on a centralized database.
Second, Ordinals NFTs are linked to individual satoshis, Bitcoin’s smallest unit. Unlike Ethereum-based NFT projects, which have their own token, there is no need for a sidechain or supplementary token. This establishes a link between the NFT and the underlying asset, Bitcoin.
How are Ordinals different from NFTs
NFTs on Ethereum frequently point to off-chain data on the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), a decentralized file storage system that can be changed using dynamic metadata. To improve image quality, some NFT projects, for example, update the metadata of individual NFTs. They may even request that their holders click the “refresh metadata” button on OpenSea in order to obtain the new, higher-quality image.
This ability to modify an NFT’s metadata alluded to a flaw Rodarmor was attempting to address when he devised the new protocol. According to Rodarmor, NFTs are “incomplete” because many require off-chain data. Ordinals, on the other hand, are “complete” in the sense that all data is inscribed directly on-chain. This is why Rodarmor refers to them as digital artefacts rather than NFTs. Furthermore, NFTs frequently include creator royalties, whereas digital artefacts do not. An Ordinal, according to Rodarmor, “is intended to reflect what NFTs should be, sometimes are, and what inscriptions always are, by definition.”
All of this is to say that Ordinals on Bitcoin may not only signal a cultural shift for Bitcoin, but they may also be a technical advancement over NFTs.
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