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In the dying days of 2022, the Bitcoin community witnessed a mini-revolution with the introduction of the Ordinals protocol. Created by blockchain developer Casey Rodarmor in December 2022, it enables the unique identification of individual satoshis — the smallest units of a Bitcoin — and lets you attach pieces of data to them. These pieces of data — text, programming code, images or video — are called inscriptions. They’re enabled by the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, and are an innovative way of creating unique digital artifacts, essentially NFTs, on the Bitcoin blockchain.
The concept of Bitcoin-based NFTs is so intriguing that it didn’t take long for inscription functionality to be introduced on other popular blockchains, such as Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Dogecoin (DOGE), as well as a number of smaller chains. On the Bitcoin chain itself, a new token standard inspired by the Ordinals protocol, BRC-20, was also launched in early 2023. By now, inscriptions are among the hottest topics being discussed by NFT enthusiasts, blockchain developers and crypto investors.
Key Takeaways:
Blockchain inscription technology allows you to attach pieces of data — text, programming code, image or video — to individual tokens created and stored on-chain.
Inscriptions were introduced by the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol in January 2023 to create non-fungible, distinct assets on its blockchain. Soon after the Ordinals launch, the BRC-20 token standard was developed to facilitate the deployment of inscribable fungible tokens on Bitcoin.
Throughout 2023, inscriptions for both non-fungible and fungible use cases were introduced on several other blockchains besides Bitcoin.