10,000 “Bitcoin CryptoPunks” were recently created this week and are readily available. Yes, these NFTs are already selling for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
These NFTs, however, are not your typical “run of the mill” NFTs, and the absence of Bitcoin’s smart contracts will probably serve as a strong reminder of just how vital Ethereum and other chains with smart contract interfaces are.
Let’s examine the most recent “slice of chaos” in NFTs.
Not Your Average CryptoPunks: NFTs On Bitcoin and What They Mean
The last Bitcoin Punks were produced using a free, public mint on Thursday. But that doesn’t always imply that they were reachable.
On the Bitcoin blockchain, creators are constructing NFTs by allocating ‘ordinals’ to each satoshi. Text, photos, videos, and other types of information are connected to the ordinals. In essence, this procedure tags satoshis with metadata.
The inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain are completely irreversible and unchangeable, and there is no such thing as a “token standard” like Ethereum’s ERC standard. However, there is an ordinal inscription psuedo explorer accessible.
This idea is brand-new and wasn’t even thought of a month ago. We are essentially at the beginning of the Bitcoin NFTs, and as there is no apparent first mover, there is also no infrastructure. There are no specifically designed wallets, no platforms that permit this type of activity, and no well-established tools for “minting” these Bitcoin NFTs.
Minting Is Hard
Although Bitcoin inscriptions are still very much in the “testing” stage, there is definitely interest in the technology, so don’t be shocked if additional infrastructure and tools start to appear to assist inscription production.
Although there was a bot for a short while, it is generally accepted that the majority of Bitcoin Punk owners used node operators to access them.
Will ordinals ultimately become a major “relic” of NFTs or will they be be a passing trend that is quickly forgotten? There are many unanswered questions, but it’s always interesting to watch fresh innovations and twists in the world of cryptocurrencies, especially in relation to Bitcoin, the much-discussed “dinosaur.” For now, individuals who are interested should exercise caution while engaging in OTC trades because there is a lack of infrastructure, which allows fraudsters and cheaters to proliferate and prey on eager potential purchasers of this new generation of CryptoPunks.