Ordinals NFTs (also known as digital artifacts or inscriptions) permit users to mint non-fungible tokens onto the Bitcoin network, complete with images. Since 2015, NFTs have been a part of the Bitcoin ecosystem on Counterparty, a blockchain network that distinguished non-fungible assets using Bitcoin’s OP RETURN function.
The developer behind the Ordinals protocol released it in January of 2023. It lets users explore, send, and receive individual satoshis, which may contain unique inscribed data such as photographs and movies. It’s a novel method for minting NFTs on Bitcoin that requires placing the entire NFT‘s content on-chain.
Ordinals: an overview of BTC NFTs
At least, it appears that Bitcoin Ordinals have taken over Web3. Since software programmer Casey Rodarmor unveiled the protocol on January 21, the space has been humming, with some delighted about the new improvement and others swearing off Ordinals entirely.
Ordinals quickly rose to prominence. Within a few weeks of going live, unique collections and eye-popping sales emerged, with some individual pieces fetching hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ordinal Punks is one of the more significant projects to emerge in these early days.
Ordinal Punks is a set of 100 Bitcoin NFTs created inside the first 650 Inscriptions on the Bitcoin chain, paying respect to CryptoPunks – the highest numbered Inscription in the collection is #642.
Xverse rolls out support for Bitcoin Ordinals
Bitcoin has recently recorded its 100,000th Ordinal transaction, continuing its explosive growth pattern. Given that Bitcoin’s initial inventors did not envision NFTs, their emergence has inevitably created controversy, with many individuals uncertain as to whether they will harm or benefit the network.
Xverse, which bills itself as a “Bitcoin wallet for Web3,” has now released support for Ordinals, a newly popular technology that enables users to inscribe NFTs onto the Bitcoin network.
The startup added that inscribing NFTs through their software requires “no need to run a node, complex software, or anything else,” only Bitcoin to pay a transaction fee, which can be purchased within the app.
Inscriptions are made using Gamma.io, a Bitcoin NFT marketplace that launched “no-code ordinal inscriptions” last week. According to Xverse, Gamma’s technique has been used in around 5% of Bitcoin inscriptions so far.
After uploading an image and making a transaction to their supplied Ordinals address, users can locate their inscriptions inside their Xverse NFT collection within 20 to 30 minutes—and embedded in the blockchain forever.
This comes just a day after Hiro, another Bitcoin-focused Web3 wallet, added inscriptions to its testnet on Tuesday. Both wallets interface with Stacks, a “layer 1.5” blockchain with its own NFT economy that settles transactions on Bitcoin.
Xverse, too, allows Bitcoin users to communicate with Stacks, with ambitions to enable fast payments via the lightning network.
5 steps on how to inscribe Ordinals NFT
Until recently, the only method to inscribe an ordinal was with a fully synced Bitcoin node, which is expensive and necessitates considerable technical knowledge. However, gamma, the leading Bitcoin NFT platform, has now made it simple and inexpensive to inscribe Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs.
With this no-code tool, you can set your transaction cost based on network congestion. Prominent artists and enterprises such as Megapont Ape Club are coming to the marketplace. They offer fascinating NFT collections to capitalize on the scarcity and immutability of Bitcoin L1. Here’s how it works:
Step 1
Install the Xverse Desktop Chrome browser plugin. Then, connect to Gamma.io and choose your type of inscription.
Step 2
You have the option of immediately inscribing an image or text onto the Bitcoin blockchain. Then, choose the chosen file from your device to upload your inscription. Gamma suggests keeping your files under 35kb in size for the greatest results.
The cost varies with file size, which is the same as the transaction fee you would pay for the speed of confirmation. Remember that anybody can see your inscription and that it can never be modified or deleted. Make certain that what you publish is exactly what you intended.
Step 3
You can now select your transaction charge based on network congestion. Keep in mind that the greater the charge, the sooner your transcription will be completed. However, this could take several hours or even several days. Choose “Continue” and enter your transaction fee. The fees range from standard to high to custom.
These figures are estimates, and Bitcoin network fees are required to complete your inscription. Therefore, higher fees are preferred and may speed up the issuance of your inscription. However, even large fees can take hours or days to settle on the blockchain.
Step 4
Now you must input the recipient’s ordinal address. To receive your Bitcoin NFT, you must have a fresh, unused, Ordinals-compatible taproot Bitcoin receiving address. Navigate to the NFT tab in your Xverse wallet and press the receive button for Ordinal NFTs.
Copy the recipient address from a taproot and paste it into Gamma’s BTC wallet recipient address section. Gamma cannot guarantee you will be able to transmit your ordinal from a non-taproot address if you provide a BTC recipient address that is incompatible with the ordinals.
Step 5
Finally, you will agree to the terms of service and deposit the needed BTC amount to the wallet address to pay the inscription cost. To pay for the transaction, you’ll need BTC, which you can buy straight in your Xverse app using a fiat onramp provider. Once the sale is confirmed, you will receive a link to your inscription and transaction details on http://Ordinals.com.
That’s all there is to it! You’ve just etched your name into Bitcoin NFT history. Depending on the network load, your inscription may take several days to appear in your Xverse NFT collection. You can check your transaction’s status with Gamma on the completion screen.
