The recent sell-off in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares, a popular investment product offering exposure to Bitcoin, is speculated to be linked to the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. FTX reportedly dumped $902 million worth of GBTC shares, contributing to the downward pressure on the product's value. Additionally, industry analysts point to GBTC's high transaction fees as a factor triggering outflows. GBTC charges trading fees of up to 1.5% with no exemptions, contrasting with other exchange-traded fund (ETF) sponsors that set fees between 0.2% and 0.4%, often with temporary exemptions.
In a unique development within the Dogecoin network, a free version of the popular video game Doom has been incorporated to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary. The Dogecoin network now features nine game levels, allowing users to engage with the game directly on the blockchain. This inclusion aligns with a broader trend of incorporating various applications and functionalities into blockchain networks.
The Ordinals protocol, initially launched on Bitcoin, expanded to the Litecoin network after an anonymous user named Indigo Nakamoto contributed $500 worth of Litecoin. The protocol facilitates the burning of classic game emulators onto blockchain networks. Following Litecoin, Doge Labs, a Dogecoin enthusiast, embraced the Ordinals protocol, enabling its deployment on the Dogecoin network. Users can write images, videos, and audio to both Bitcoin and Dogecoin blockchains.
On May 18, the Dogecoin network set a new 24-hour transaction record of 1.2 million transactions, primarily driven by the introduction of the Ordinals protocol. Before the deployment of Doom on Dogecoin, developers had already used Ordinals to burn classic game emulators onto the Bitcoin blockchain. The inclusion of gaming elements on blockchain networks is seen by some as a means of preserving "cultural digital artifacts" for future generations, with Bitcoin being positioned as an ideal platform for such endeavors.
