•Ordinals has launched on the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing for Bitcoin-native on-chain NFTs.
•The Ordinals protocol assigns individual satoshis numbers and allows them to be transferred.
•The introduction of Ord and inscriptions brings NFTs to Bitcoin, allowing content such as images and videos to be assigned to an individual satoshi.

What is Ordinals?

Ordinals is a project that has launched on the Bitcoin blockchain, effectively enabling Bitcoin-native on-chain NFTs. Led by former Bitcoin Core contributor Casey Rodarmor, the protocol is a convention for numbering and transferring individual satoshis on the Bitcoin network.

What is Ord?

Ord, a specific implementation of Ordinals, „is a wallet and explorer that allows tracking the location of specific satoshis and their ordinal numbers – assigned by the Ordinals protocol – as well viewing, creating, and transferring inscriptions, that is, individual satoshis inscribed with arbitrary content.“

What are Inscriptions?

The introduction of Ord and inscriptions brings NFTs to Bitcoin, allowing content such as images, videos and HTML to be included in a Bitcoin transaction and assigned to an individual satoshi. Inscriptions are fully on-chain transactions which inherit the same properties as those found in traditional bitcoin transactions (i.e., immutability).

Debate Surrounding Ordinals

Since its release, the project has attracted a great amount of debate in regards to its impact on bitcoin. Supporters describe it as a net benefit for bitcoin while critics point towards potential increased strain put onto block space or bandwidth necessary for running nodes when using inscriptions. Debate seems likely to continue until further clarity can be gained about how these types of implementations affect bitcoin’s overall performance.

Conclusion

Regardless of debate surrounding ordinals specifically may be up for debate, renewed interest in how projects are built upon bitcoin is seen as healthy sign for the network. The future implications of this technology remain uncertain but could prove beneficial if implemented correctly moving forward.