The crypto derivatives firm BitMEX has identified over 13,000 Ordinals NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain, a sign that the buzz around this new flavor of non-fungible tokens is growing quickly. According to a blog post published by the firm’s research arm, these Ordinals were minted or “inscribed” between their debut on Dec. 14 and Feb. 7. This influx of JPEGs and other media files onto Bitcoin has consumed 526 megabytes (MB) of block space and cost creators 6.77 bitcoin (roughly $155,000 at the time of publication).
The total number of Ordinals transactions to date shows a steep “hockey stick” curve, indicating that NFT activity on Bitcoin has gone exponential. This surge in popularity has caused some controversy, with prominent Bitcoiners such as Rene Pickhardt accusing the Ordinals crowd of “spamming” the most dominant blockchain with oversized JPEGs. The data backs up this view, as Ordinals’ share of total Bitcoin transactions barely cracked the 3% mark on Wednesday, yet they consumed nearly 70% of the Bitcoin block space.
The debate over Ordinals has sparked an existential discussion within the Bitcoin community. Some argue that the project is a valuable addition to the blockchain, while others believe it is a waste of resources and detracts from the core purpose of Bitcoin. As the Ordinals project continues to grow, it will be interesting to see how the Bitcoin community responds.