Decentralised economies have been developing over the years, and more technologies have come in to play a major role in the crypto world. NFTs, DEXes and the blockchain are just a few examples of technologies accompanying cryptocurrencies.
The Bitcoin ordinal is one of the recent introductions of the crypto world, which arrived in late 2022. Many associate Bitcoin ordinals with NFTs because of the similarities between them.
Understanding this term can be challenging because it involves some technicalities. However, we will simplify the meaning of Bitcoin ordinals as the following.
Understanding Bitcoin Ordinals
Bitcoin ordinals are the smallest denomination of Bitcoin, called Satoshi Units, which can be used to carry and store textual information.
One Bitcoin equals 100 million Satoshi Unites (SATs). Thus, they allow buying and selling fractions of the Bitcoin without having to trade the whole coin value. Developers found that the inscription ability of those small units can carry other data like texts and other multimedia.
These features may look similar to how NFTs work, which are digital creations represented in images, videos or texts. However, SATs can only carry texts because their size is limited to 4 megabytes.
This introduction is still in its preliminary stages and has the potential to provide more utility to crypto enthusiasts and Bitcoin holders.
NFT Vs. Bitcoin Ordinal
Despite the similar functionality between Bitcoin ordinals and NFTs, there are several differences that must be pointed out.
Creating NFTs requires minting on a selected blockchain, like Ethereum, where the digital information and ownership details are stored. Moreover, non-fungible tokens can be interoperable, which means operating on multiple chains and losing some of their blockchain characteristics.
On the other hand, BOs are inscribed units of the Bitcoin itself and on the blockchain mainnet without compromising any security and solidity features. However, they provide a smaller utility given its size limitation.
Conclusion
Bitcoin ordinals are a new introduction derived from the most prominent cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. However, this solution faces limitations compared to NFTs. SATs can only store textual information, while NFTs can be minted with images, video, GIFs and texts. This innovation is still premature, and more discoveries may unveil extended use cases for BTC holders.