Ordinals, or Bitcoin non-fungible tokens (NFTs), have made a lot of noise in the crypto space. The fact that people can create NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain made people go nuts, and create tens of thousands of Bitcoin NFTs in just a few days.
All Ordinals inscriptions can be seen at ordinals.com/inscriptions. How to create, trade, or buy Bitcoin NFTs? This article will show all the essentials. We’ll start with the easy way, but by the end it will get more technical and complicated.
Main differences between Bitcoin NFT and Ethereum NFT
Ordinal Moons (@OrdinalMoons) has been added to the Directory!
Total Supply: 50
Highest Inscription: #65337https://t.co/vC6008UM3Z pic.twitter.com/J0dbC8Jidk— Ordinals Directory (@OrdDirectory) February 13, 2023
To start off, let’s have a look at the main differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum NFTs. Bitcoin NFTs will always exist 100% on-chain, which means they are immutable, uncensorable, and benefit from the same security and decentralization as Bitcoin in every respect.
Related article: What are Bitcoin ordinals?
Ordinals are the closest thing to a “genuine” NFT that exists, having all of the desirable qualities that collectors look for in NFTs. Conversely, Ethereum NFTs possess a variety of characteristics and virtues. Ethereum has many different standards (e.g., ERC-721, ERC-1155), and all NFTs are smart contracts as well.
As we know, smart contracts can be abused, and the security of a given NFT collection or individual NFT depends on the given contract. In addition, the images of some NFTs on Ethereum themselves are not stored directly on the blockchain but can, for example, only be uploaded to the IPFS database or simply stored on any server.
How to create a wallet for Ordinals
The creation of Ordinals is possible thanks to the Taproot upgrade, which is something like the ERC-721 standard for Ethereum (ETH). Bitcoin is the blockchain, Taproot is the token, and Ordinals are the pictures (JPEGs).
Read also: How to invest in Bitcoin?
Basically, anyone can inscribe (mint) Bitcoin Ordinals. There are no restrictions to it, but some technical requirements are in place. The first thing the potential “minter” need to do is have a wallet. For safety reasons it is recommended to only hold one Bitcoin NFT per wallet. For this purpose, most use Sparrow Wallet, which announced Taproot support on Bitcoin Core. Find more information in the tweet below. Remember that fees for transactions or NFT minting are paid in BTC.
Sparrow v1.7.2 released with:
Taproot support on Bitcoin Core
Wallet fingerprints displayed as lifehashes on passphrase entry
BIP329 wallet labels import and export
Tapsigner and Satscard support
More: https://t.co/fpLVgUTld5
— Sparrow Wallet 🐦 (@SparrowWallet) February 9, 2023
How to create Bitcoin NFTs (easy way)
Websites such as ordinalsbot.com or gamma.io/ordinals are the most used to mint Bitcoin NFT. Basically, the person creating NFTs needs to send them the JPEG, they will put it on a blockchain, and send it back. But, of course, the fees will be in play depending on the transaction speed.
It can cost anywhere from $10 to $200. Due to technical limitations, it is necessary to run a Bitcoin Node to be able to create an NFT of this type. To do this, people can do it the hard way or follow this easy process or install a Bitcoin Node as well.
How to create Bitcoin NFTs (hard way)
Visual by @888_bit pic.twitter.com/Gx7pUUj9aD
— Ordinal Punks (@OrdinalPunks) February 2, 2023
Unless one is operating a Bitcoin Node, they are unable to sell, transfer, or trade Ordinals. When the node has been installed, the next step is to synchronize it with the blockchain, which may take up to three days. Make sure to understand the risks by reading this guide on bitcoin.org.
- Download, sync, and run Bitcoin Node.
- Install ord utility in Bitcoin Core command line: curl –proto ‘=https’ –tlsv1.2 -fsLS (https://ordinals.com/install.sh) | bash -s.
- Run: ord —version ( https://github.com/casey/ord ).
- Create a new wallet named (in core): “command line: ord wallet create.”
- Create a wallet address, copy, and send yourself some sats in order to convert them into Ordinals with inscription. Then “Command line: ord wallet receive.”
- Create an inscription by adding an image file (under 50kb) into FILE (in your root Bitcoin folder). With the Taproot upgrade, a block can now hold up to 4 MB. But that size could be very expensive. Then “Command line: ord wallet inscribe FILE.”
This is the process of creating the Ordinal the hard way. Most importantly, don’t make another Bitcoin NFT in the same wallet as explained before.
Be careful
Be aware that Bitcoin NFTs (at least for now) can only be traded from person to person, as there is no NFT marketplace that would support Bitcoin NFTs at the moment. Only OTC trading. Make sure you don’t send your bitcoins blindly and don’t give out your private keys.
Also read: How to choose a crypto wallet?
Scammers are always active, you must be aware of their presence. Moreover, check the prices you are buying these NFTs for to see whether you are not overpaying.
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