Binance has announced plans to support Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions on its NFT marketplace later this month. This move marks Binance's entry into the rapidly growing Bitcoin-based parallel NFT market.
The update to Binance's NFT marketplace will be rolled out in the coming weeks, allowing users to buy and trade Ordinals inscriptions using their Binance accounts. In March, the NFT marketplace expanded its range of supported networks by adding select NFT collections from Polygon to the platform.
Binance's Head of Product, Mayur Kamat, sees the prepared listing to be a significant development. Kamat commented:
"Bitcoin is the OG of crypto. We believe things are just getting started here and can't wait to see what the future holds in this space."
Several inscriptions marketplaces have emerged as a result of Ordinals' initial surge in popularity, including Ordswap, Ordinals Market, and Ordinals Wallet. Magic Eden, the largest Solana NFT marketplace, was the first among established platforms to enter the Ordinals market, launching an inscriptions marketplace in March.
Binance's NFT marketplace announcement comes just days after the exchange temporarily paused Bitcoin withdrawals due to network congestion, while its competitors remained fully operational. The pause occurred when Bitcoin transaction fees were at a high, and the network's mempool—where transactions wait to be verified—was heavily backlogged.
Many in crypto Twitter (CT) believe that transactions related to BRC-20 tokens were contributing to the network congestion. BRC-20 tokens, which are built and traded using Ordinals, use text-based inscriptions instead of image-based ones, just like Bitcoin NFTs. Currently, Binance's Bitcoin NFT marketplace does not support BRC-20 tokens.
In recent weeks, image-based inscriptions have been eclipsed by Bitcoin-based tokens and text-based inscriptions. On Sunday, 99.7% of inscriptions made through Ordinals were text-based, according to a Dune dashboard. Simultaneously, 65% of all Bitcoin transactions were related to BRC-20 tokens, as reported by another Dune dashboard.
The excitement surrounding BRC-20 tokens intensified on Monday as Ordi, the first BRC-20 token launched as an experiment in March, was listed on cryptocurrency exchanges Crypto.com and Gate.io. Binance's support for Ordinals inscriptions signals its commitment to staying at the forefront of the ever-evolving cryptocurrency landscape.
The addition of Ordinals inscriptions to Binance's NFT marketplace represents a significant milestone in the expansion of digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. As we dive deeper into the world of Ordinals and the underlying technology, it's important to understand how this development will impact Binance users and the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Ordinals inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain are often referred to as "digital artifacts," and they represent a different approach to NFTs compared to the more familiar Ethereum-based NFTs. Ordinals are created by inscribing satoshis, the atomic units of a Bitcoin, with digital artifacts or machine-readable language. This process aligns with the immutable nature of the Bitcoin blockchain.
The Bitcoin Ordinals project, initiated by Casey Rodarmor, a former blockchain developer at Chaincode Labs for Bitcoin Core, offers a new perspective on the concept of NFTs. The project documentation states, "Digital artifacts are permissionless. An NFT which cannot be sold without paying a royalty is not permissionless, and thus not a digital artifact." This distinction highlights the unique characteristics of Ordinals as opposed to traditional NFTs.
As Binance adds support for Ordinals inscriptions to its NFT marketplace, users will have access to a new type of digital asset that is more closely tied to the Bitcoin blockchain. Unlike Ethereum-based NFTs, which often rely on off-chain data from the Interplanetary File System (IPFS), Bitcoin Ordinals do not require off-chain connections. This development represents a significant technical advancement within the digital asset space, addressing a previously unresolved (or, to some extent, unrealized) challenge in the Bitcoin blockchain.
The process of creating Ordinals inscriptions involves inscribing satoshis with arbitrary content, resulting in bitcoin-native digital artifacts without the need for a sidechain or separate token. These inscribed satoshis can be transferred using bitcoin transactions, sent to bitcoin addresses, and held in bitcoin UTXOs. The transactions, addresses, and UTXOs are treated as normal bitcoin entities, with the exception that transactions must control the order and value of inputs and outputs according to ordinal theory.
Binance's decision to support Ordinals inscriptions on its NFT marketplace is a testament to the growing interest and excitement surrounding this new form of digital asset. As Yuga Labs, the creator of the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, said, "Stepping into the Ordinals Discord a month ago felt like getting a glimpse of the 2017-era Ethereum NFT ecosystem. It’s the type of energy and excitement we love."
With the addition of Ordinals inscriptions to Binance's NFT marketplace, users can expect a more diverse range of digital assets available for trading and collecting. The integration of this innovative Bitcoin-based technology also signals the exchange's commitment to staying at the forefront of the rapidly evolving digital asset landscape. The support for Bitcoin Ordinals could be a harbinger of even more groundbreaking developments in the space.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
