Bitcoin ordinals seem to be a new buzz coming to the Bitcoin blockchain. Let’s discuss why, what is that and understand how they can affect the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. Moreover, it’s worth investigating how Ordinals on Bitcoin differ from NFT on Ethereum and Solana, for example.

What are Bitcoin Ordinals and how do they work?

Bitcoin ordinals were brought to the public by Casey Rodarmor, when he formulated his Ordinal theory back in January 2023. The main idea behind it is the following.

The smallest fraction of Bitcoin is satoshi, which is equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin. All satoshi that make up Bitcoin are mined sequentially. That’s why they can be given numbers according to the order they are mined. This number is called an inscription. What Casey came up with is that these inscriptions can not only be numbers, they can be images, short videos, or GIFs. Through such a system of providing satoshi with inscribed graphic data, ordinals can obtain similar NFT functionality. Any number assigned for satoshi in the range between 0 and 2.1 trillion could be adapted for NFT realization. 

As an example, let’s have a look at a dollar-quarter coin. One side of it always depicts George Washington. At the same time, the other side may feature various images, based on the year of the coin minting. That’s why we may speak about the same means of payment but with different inscriptions on one of its sides. 

Thus, the Bitcoin blockchain which was designed only for financial operations, can grow and resemble a complicated structure obtaining extra functionality enabling the storage and transmission of non-fungible digital assets.  

Ordinal NFTs VS Ethereum NFTs

The main difference between NFTs on Ethereum and Ordinals on Bitcoin is the way the data inscribed is stored. NFT on Eetherfum is created and stored on the blockchain with the help of the token standard ERC-721. This helps to find out and recognize an NFT across the Ethereum ecosystem. Together with the NFT, a metadata file is also created. This file has all the information about the NFT. The visual part of NFT only acts as a stamp, connected to the metadata file and identifying it. While a metadata file is embedded into the Ethereum blockchain, the image itself can be stored anywhere offline and that’s why it can be edited. 

At the same time, Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs are attached to the piece of currency within the Bitcoin blockchain and this is the key difference from Ethereum NFTs. 

Ordinal NFTs don’t need a special metadata file to describe what is that, concerning the artwork type and its value. The artwork itself is inscribed into the blockchain. It means that Bitcoin ordinals can not only store NFTs and help to track them over the blockchain ecosystem but also bring an extra level of security and immutability to Bitcoin NFTs. Such a high level of NFT protection is technically impossible on other blockchains.

Summing Up

With the growth of the Bitcoin blockchain ecosystem, more and more possibilities are opening for users. One of them is to prove the uniqueness and ownership of digital assets through the Ordinals. 

Spatium is a crypto wallet that is building DeFi on Bitcoin and is actively investigating new possibilities for improving the Bitcoin blockchain ecosystem including the use of Ordinals to store and exchange NFTs on Bitcoin.

Visit our website for more information about new opportunities to send feeless crypto transactions, perform P2P swaps without the need to store the crypto of the blockchain you are sending to. Stay tuned and follow us on social networks. 

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