Bitcoin’s Ordinal Inscriptions Surpass 500,000 Mark as Miners Earn $2.66 Million in Added Fees

According to statistics, there are now more than 500,000 Ordinal inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain as the trend continues to gain significant traction. Onchain data also shows that since inscriptions started gaining popularity last month, Bitcoin miners have obtained 98 bitcoins worth $2.66 million in added fees.

The Rise of Ordinal Inscriptions on Bitcoin Blockchain

Ordinal inscriptions have surpassed the 500,000 mark, and at the time of writing, there are approximately 522,243 inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain. Essentially, the technology behind Ordinal inscriptions allows people to embed all types of arbitrary data into the blockchain. Inscriptions include data such as text, images, audio, video, and applications.

The number of Ordinal inscriptions surpassed the 500,000 range on March 17, 2023, according to data hosted on Dune Analytics. Statistics show that 31.1% of inscriptions are in PNG format, or a total of 162,615 PNG-based inscriptions. Approximately 14% of Ordinal inscriptions are in WEBP format, and roughly 7% are in JPEG format.

A total of 212,827 inscriptions are text-based, accounting for more than 40% of all the Ordinal inscriptions today. Dune Analytics data further shows that at block height 780,895, approximately 1,870 inscriptions were minted in the block with Ordinal inscriptions. The block with the second-largest number of inscriptions is block height 780,037, with approximately 610 Ordinal inscriptions minted in a single block.

Block 780,895, with 1,870 inscriptions, was only 2.83 megabytes (MB) in size, and a total of 3,598 transactions were confirmed in the block mined on March 15. In addition to the number of Ordinal inscriptions rising above the 500K range, a few collections have amassed a great deal of sales. Yuga Labs sold its collection of inscriptions called Twelvefold for $16.6 million.

The project Bitcoin Punks has seen 454.9 BTC, or roughly $11.1 million in sales, and Ordinal Punks have raked in 225.5 BTC, or $5.5 million in sales. An Ordinal inscription collection called Tradfilines has accrued 100.4 BTC, or roughly $2.4 million in sales. The compilation Unordinals has recorded 95.4 BTC or $2.3 million.

Other top-selling inscription collections include Inscribed Pepes, Punks on Bitcoin, Pixel Pepes, Bitcoin Rocks, and the art compilation called Xcpinata. The trend of Ordinal inscriptions on Bitcoin continues, and while there are more than 500,000 inscriptions on the blockchain, there are also 213,583 LTC-based Ordinal inscriptions on the Litecoin network today.

The Litecoin blockchain also has a wide variety of onchain collections like Litecoin Punks, Litecoin Bulls, and Ordinal Doges. Many people have high hopes for the Ordinal inscription trend, especially on the Bitcoin blockchain. Galaxy Digital recently published a report that predicts Bitcoin-based non-fungible token (NFT) assets using Ordinal inscription technology could be a $4.5 billion market by 2025.

What do you think the future holds for Ordinal inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain and the NFT market? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.