Magic Eden, an online non-fungible tokens marketplace that crosses chains, announced on Tuesday it is expanding its platform to include Bitcoin NFT Ordinal Inscriptions. This will enable users to purchase and sell these new digital collectibles.
Bitcoin Ordinals is a type of NFT (non-fungible token) that can “inscribe” itself on the Bitcoin Blockchain. These cryptoassets can represent a collectible digital item such as an image, document, video or game. They can also be inscribed on the smallest Bitcoin unit called a satoshi. Ownership of a satoshi allows users to show they own the item that is inscribed on it. This creates a tradeable version of that collectible.
Ordinals, unlike NFTs on other chains like Ethereum, store data about the collectible directly onto the chain, rather than using a media link. That means it cannot go offline or get lost, so it’s always directly connected to the satoshi — “inscribed” to it –and remains with the owner of the NFT.
Market share-wise, it is Solana’s largest NFT market. In 2017, the platform expanded support for Polygon as well as Ethereum. Support for Bitcoin NFTs gives the audience of the marketplace more choices to explore.
Jack Lu, co-founder and chief executive officer of Magic Eden said: “Bitcoin Ordinals introduce a completely new dimension in the NFT universe.” The media you upload to Bitcoin cannot be removed or changed. The simplicity of this system is appreciated by creators, who are looking to inscribe collectibles onto the blockchain.
This week the number of Ordinal inscriptions passed 500,000. The protocol was launched on 21 January. Galaxy Digital Ltd., an investment firm specializing in cryptography and financial services, predicted that Ordinals could become a very large market. They estimated the base case market size to be $4.5 billion. Comparatively, in 2022 the total NFT market was worth nearly $24.7billion.
At the launch of its marketplace, 13 different collections will be publishing Bitcoin NFT ordinals, including Taproot Wizards Inscribed Pepes Bitcoin Bandits. Magic Eden will display all collectibles in the same manner as other NFTs, including metadata like Ordinal rarity and age. Names and inscription numbers are also included. Marketplace also stated that it would continue to upgrade the feature, as new collections are added online. It will create more sophisticated tooling for Ordinals.
Magic Eden partnered and integrated Hiro Wallet and Xverse to ease the buying, selling, and trading of Ordinals. According to Magic Eden, they’ll allow for users to make transactions similar to those made with the Solana wallet.
Users can start buying, selling, trading and transacting using Bitcoin NFT Ordinals by visiting the new Ordinals Marketplace section and connecting their wallets.