- Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, says that Ordinals have reset the cultural fabric of the Bitcoin network.
- During a discussion, Buterin explains what Bitcoin developers can learn from their counterparts in Ethereum.
- According to a report for the second quarter of 2023, trading volumes on Bitcoin Ordinals have surpassed $210 million.
Vitalik Buterin, drew attention to the importance of Ordinals in Bitcoin in a live broadcast he attended and said that he started the constructive culture in the network.
Vitalik Highlights the Significance of Ordinals
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, draws attention to the importance of Ordinals in Bitcoin during a live stream and states that it has initiated a constructive culture within the network.
During the discussion, Buterin explains what Bitcoin developers can learn from their counterparts in Ethereum. He praises Ordinals and the revolutionary BRC-20 token standard for changing policies in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
For approximately two hours, blockchain experts debated network scalability. Eric Wall expressed concerns about Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, stating that it may not be scalable for future users. He also criticized the network for frequently failing even with medium-sized transactions.
Wall’s observations led to Buterin suggesting Layer 2 solutions for Bitcoin. He also suggested that Bitcoin developers find more ways to make the underlying layer of the network more efficient.
Wertheimer had a different perspective on how to improve the Bitcoin network. According to him, the adoption of rollups could create an interesting side effect for Bitcoin. He stated that the adoption of rollups would enable smart contract development on the Bitcoin network.
However, this stance from Buterin and the two Bitcoin proponents angered some Bitcoin fundamentalists. Fundamentalists believe that NFTs and smart contracts will diminish Bitcoin’s primary role as a payment network. Meanwhile, Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3, believes that Ordinals could be used for Bitcoin payments instead of allocating block space for it.
Wall acknowledged the criticisms from within the Bitcoin community but did not agree with the critics’ views. According to him, Bitcoin can be used as a “proof system” for zero-knowledge proofs that do not clog the network. He also added that Bitcoin users have always been interested in DeFi solutions for using the base layer of the network for arbitration.
Growing Interest in Bitcoin Ordinals
According to a report for the second quarter of 2023, trading volumes on Bitcoin Ordinals have surpassed $210 million. The Bitcoin Ordinals volume was at $7.18 million in the first quarter of the year.
Additionally, the number of Ordinals transactions reached 550,000 in the second quarter. The data shows that unique users on the network have been increasing since May 2023.
The increased popularity of Bitcoin Ordinals has had an interesting impact on the NFT world. By the end of May 2023, Bitcoin surpassed Solana to become the second most popular NFT blockchain.
Furthermore, Ordinals has also contributed to the Bitcoin mining industry, with BTC miners earning approximately $184 million in the first half of 2023.