Despite trouble for blue-chip NFT Azuki Elemantals earlier this week, bitcoin ordinals are showing continued interest with a $1.8 million dollar sale early on June 30.
Together, this equates to 191,597,695.00 in Uncate gorized Ordinals sales to date, according to NFT industry data aggregator, CryptoSlam.
History in the making
According to CryptoSlam, Uncategorized Ordinal #949857…E9d4i0 sold for $1.8 million as part of a larger collection of digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain that don’t exist as part of a collection. Alongside this sale, the aggregator reports a 46.53% increase in sales in the last 24 hours to a total of $7,726,032.00, with total owners rising 2.31% to 276,111.
Continued interest is further evident by a June 30 Tweet from IntoTheBlock, that highlighted Bitcoin total fees in this quarter ended at $186 million, a 316% increase, with Ordinals-related activity mostly driving the growth. Although fees are on the increase, the price of Bitcoin is down 1.59%, where it currently sits at 30,040.00 at the time of writing.
Bitcoin Ordinals emerged as a method for content storage on the Bitcoin blockchain in December 2022. The concept, pioneered by Casey Rodarmor through his Ordinals theory, has paved the way for inscribing content directly into Satoshis, the atomic units of Bitcoin.
By leveraging the power of Ordinals, it becomes possible to store actual content on the Bitcoin blockchain, eliminating the reliance on traditional off-chain systems like IPFS (InterPlanetary File System). Ordinals popularity can then be pinpointed to February 2023, when the assets really began to make headlines.
The tipping point
Despite ongoing growth of Ordinals the community remains divided on their long-term impact. Notably, figures in the Bitcoin community, such as Dan Held, have embraced Ordinals as a catalyst for expanding the practical applications of Bitcoin. According to Held and his supporters, the adoption of Ordinals opens up new avenues for utilizing Bitcoin in financial use cases, offering enhanced versatility and potential for growth.
However, a faction of more uncompromising Bitcoin enthusiasts staunchly adhere to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision for Bitcoin as a decentralized, peer-to-peer cash system. They argue that the introduction of Ordinals represents a departure from the fundamental principles outlined in the Bitcoin whitepaper.
While the launch of Elementals may not have been the turning point for the NFT market, many were hoping for, it leaves the question, will Ordinals be that change?
