Ordinals are here to stay. Ordinal numbers, or the ability to permanently imprint the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain with data, usually in the form of an image or jpeg, is a controversial topic among some members of the Bitcoin and wider crypto community. Not so for the builders and the CEOs of Bitcoin-focused companies who attended the Bitcoin conference, Advancing Bitcoin in London.
Cointelegraph asked several CEOs, builders and key thought leaders for their thoughts on ordinal numbers during the conference. The overarching feeling was that of curiosity, indifference, or reverence.
Alex Leishman, CEO of River, told Cointelegraph that he does not yet have a position on ordinal numbers, but he was recently awarded one.
“In the abstract, the idea of having some kind of metal layer on top of Bitcoin that tracks Sats; that has a distinct state or is mapped on the blockchain is really fascinating and could potentially be interesting for other things.”
For example, Leishman recently played the old-fashioned computer game Doom on an ordinal. “Someone had embedded doom in JavaScript and in a little web page in an ordinal,” which Leishman loaded from the blockchain.
Eric Sirion, Fedi co-founder and advisor, and maintainer of the open source protocol Fedimint told Cointelegraph that he is also “quite neutral” on Ordinals.
“Essentially, we can’t do anything about it in a way that’s morally consistent. If we try to fight it, what gives us the right to do so? And we can’t fight it effectively either. […] So yeah, why bother?
Sirion added that he’s not necessarily a fan of Ordinals as it could blow up the blockchain a bit, but “Who am I to tell other people what to do with the fees they pay?”
The Bitcoin blockchain has since “blown up” and reached an average block size has always been high, but costs have remained more or less consistent.
Benoit Mazouk, CEO of UK Bitcoin exchange, Bitcoinpoint, shared Sirion’s concerns about congestion on the blockchain. He explained that while he understands that key Bitcoin thought leaders such as Blocksstream CEO Dr. Adam Back, who noted that ordinal numbers are “useless” (insert tweet), for Mazouk, he is “more interested in Bitcoin as a currency”.
“you can’t stop them” well! bitcoin is designed to be censorship resistant. doesn’t stop us from mildly commenting on the sheer wastefulness and stupidity of a code. at least do something efficient. otherwise it’s another proof of consumption of block space stuff.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) January 29, 2023
Perhaps a bigger concern is that users can upload graphics and offensive data to the blockchain. Recently, shock porn has been uploaded like an ordinal.
However, resistance to permanence and censorship works both ways: Leishman argues that creating permanent records for potentially important or culturally significant events and data, such as Doom, can be permanently etched into the blockchain. “Ordinals can eventually become composable and it’s really really censorship-resistant content,” Leishman noted.
See Also: Yuga Labs’ First Bitcoin NFT Auction Raises $16.5 Million in 24 Hours
Bitcoin Magazine CEO Christian Keroles recently posted a culturally timely reference to the disapproval of Roahl Dahl books. CK wondered where minting books on the blockchain would preserve original copies.
Maybe banned books are worth writing in Bitcoin ♀️ https://t.co/WXpDYk4rzs
— ck (going to Bitcoin 2023) (@ck_SNARKs) February 28, 2023
All in all, Ordinals are starting to change the way Bitcoin proponents use and approach Bitcoin. Ordinals offer a different use case for the Bitcoin network than its first: peer-to-peer money.
“Maybe the Bitcoin database has value for other things, and they are willing to pay for it, which is good for miners and maybe it is.”
Miners have earned more revenue per block since the introduction of Ordinals, while video game fans can rest assured that Doom is playable loaded from the Bitcoin blockchain.