Bitcoin NFTs Push Largest Crypto to 44M Non-Zero Addresses

Following the launch of Bitcoin Non-Fungible Token (NFTs) known as Ordinals, it has pushed Bitcoin, the largest digital asset by market cap to an all-time high of 44 million non-zero addresses according to crypto analytics platform Glassnode. 

The digital asset market has experienced its first significant pullback of the year alongside news of SEC crackdowns.

Simultaneously, the emergence of Ordinals and Inscriptions on Bitcoin creates a new, unexpected demand for blockspace.

Read More Here👇https://t.co/reRjQrlX9H

— glassnode (@glassnode) February 13, 2023

Glassnode reported that this is the first time in Bitcoin history that the digital asset has been used for purposes other than monetary. Until now, most of the network activities on BTC are being used for peer-to-peer monetary Bitcoin (BTC) transfers. 

The statement by Glassnode partly reads:

“This is a new and unique moment in Bitcoin history, where an innovation is generating network activity without a classical transfer of coin volume for monetary purposes.”

However, Glassnode explained that the Ordinals upsurge has contributed significantly to a short–term uptick in recent Bitcoin network of usage, thereby generating more active users with a non-zero BTC balance. 

It was gathered that the primary source of the network activity is traceable to Ordinals, which now embodies payload of data and new active users. 

Bitcoin Miners Profited Over $600k from Ordinals 

The breakthrough in Bitcoin Ordinals has led to a massive profit for Bitcoin miners. This was made possible due to the rise in NFT inscriptions taking more than 50% Bitcoin block space. 

According to data from Dune Analytics, miners earned a cumulative $574,000 in BTC transaction fees to date. 

In view of the development, many NFT lovers are switching their digital artefacts to Bitcoin ordinals. A leading NFT collector, Jason Williams remarked that the NFT community is moving to BTC where Ordinals have brought true scarcity to collectibles. 

The NFT community is moving to BTC, where Ordinals have brought true scarcity to collectibles.

I forever inscribed “The Blonde Don” BAYC #1626 on the world's scarcest and most secure chain burning him off ETH forever using TeleBurn.

It's done. Over. Not coming back to ETH. pic.twitter.com/jmKpSSPybm

— Jason A. Williams (@GoingParabolic) February 12, 2023

It is noteworthy that the Ordinals protocol was made possible by Segregated Witness (SegWit) and Taproot as well as Bitcoin’s network soft fork upgrades. 

More than any other time, Ordinals’ data now occupies 50% of Bitcoin block space according to BitMEX Research. 

[2/2] Ordinals data continues to consume a large percentage of Bitcoin block weight, often over 50%

Data over rolling 40 block periods pic.twitter.com/7ffJ44JMRM

— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) February 13, 2023

Given the rising adoption of Bitcoin ordinals, there is no mincing word that it would assuage the bearish nature of Bitcoin and drive more growth. Meanwhile, the massive popularity that Ethereum has enjoyed in the past may likely diminish.