Serial numbers also known by some as bitcoin NFTs could reignite developer enthusiasm for bitcoin and boost mining fees, according to cryptocurrency investment firm Grayscale.
In an April 27 “Market Byte” blog post, the firm suggested that Ordinals provide two key benefits for the growth and development of the bitcoin ecosystem. The first, according to Grayscale, is the massive increase in fees paid to miners, which has been the case since the protocol's launch in January. “The presence of sequence numbers results in an increase in the total fees paid to miners which may establish a sustainable baseline level of transaction fees to incentivize miners.”
Grayscale believes this will ensure "continuous network security throughout the lifetime of the Bitcoin network." In less than two months after its launch, more than $600,000 was paid out to Bitcoin miners due to fees incurred by the Ordinal inscription alone. At press time, that number has now crossed the $6.5 million mark. The investment firm also believes that Ordinals and the “speed of adoption of NFTs” could also attract new bitcoin users and spark more development on the bitcoin network.
"We believe the emergence of ordinal numbers may foster a development-oriented community and culture in support of the Bitcoin network." On April 30th, Ordinals set a new record, surpassing 300,000 daily descriptions. Around the same time, the number of bit coin transactions was approaching a peak not seen in years, according to blockchain data firm IntoTheBlock. The meteoric rise of Ordinals has been a contentious topic in the wider bitcoin community, with bitcoin maximalists widely criticizing them for detracting from bitcoin's original p purpose as a peer-to- peer electronic currency and clogging up valuable block space.
One such critic is Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who declared Ordinals “useless” and said he “prefers Bitcoin as a currency.”
