According to the latest Dune statistics provided by on-chain analyst Dgtl_assets, the total number of Ordinals inscriptions reached nearly 9,322,000 at press time, up from 2,696,174 reported on the last day of April. These figures show a nearly 4.5-fold growth in the total number of Ordinals minted to date in a single month.
Read also: Ordinals inscriptions soared by 92% in just eight days
After a boom in the minting of satoshi-based NFTs using the Ordinals protocol, the Bitcoin network gained even more traction with the introduction of the BRC-20 protocol, which allows blockchain users to issue their own tokens. This feature triggered a new wave of interest in memecoins.
The dynamically changing situation of the Bitcoin network is surrounded by controversy. On the one hand, the dramatic increase in transactions allows miners to earn more income, while the interest in Bitcoin and its blockchain strengthens their position in the industry.
Many crypto and tech influencers, including MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor, believe Ordinals are effectively driving mass adoption of the oldest cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in general.
"Every time someone builds an application that’s cool on Bitcoin, like all the Ordinals and inscriptions and whatever that are driving up transaction fees, it’s a catalyst," he said during PBD Podcast on May 9.
Read also: Bitcoin core developer wants to kill Ordinals
On the other hand, drastic changes in transaction fees made it difficult for regular users to conduct monetary operations with Bitcoin. This problem was particularly acute in El Salvador, where Bitcoin has the status of a national currency. The time expected to complete transactions is also increasing with the growth in the number of network users.
At the same time, the memecoin frenzy has also encouraged scams based on rug pulls and airdrop phishing websites.
Meanwhile, some Ethereum developers decided to move to the Bitcoin network to build new Ordinals solutions. Interestingly, one of these projects, OrdinalSafe, a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet for Ordinals, won second place in the infrastructure category at Bitcoin 2023's "Pitch Day. "The majority of the team behind the solution, which allows users to manage their Bitcoins and Ordinals with the same address, are former Ethereum developers.
“Even though we came from an Ethereum background, it felt like home,” OrdinalSafe CEO Esad Yusuf Atik, who previously worked on Proof of Innocence under Chainway, said during the conference, adding “If you're developing on Bitcoin, you're part of the community, right?”
