Today's Hype: Inscription

Bitcoin inscriptions encompass a diverse range of data formats, including images, videos, audio, and text files, stored on the Bitcoin Blockchain. They serve as a means to record and transfer information within the blockchain network. Notably, text files constitute the majority, approximately 95%, of all Bitcoin inscriptions, with nearly 18 million ordinal inscriptions reported by mid-2023, as per data from sources like Dune Analytics and Galaxy Digital. To comprehend Bitcoin inscriptions within the blockchain, it's essential to distinguish between ordinals and inscriptions. Ordinals involve a numbering system for Satoshis, facilitating the tracking and transfer of these individual units. Each satoshi receives a unique number based on the order of mining, enabling the deployment of inscriptions in the blockchain. Inscriptions, in turn, embed sats with arbitrary content, creating digital artifacts that can be stored in Bitcoin wallets and utilized for various transactions. The functionality of Bitcoin inscriptions relies on ordinal inscriptions, a novel method for record-keeping in the Bitcoin network. This approach employs ordinary theory, providing a straightforward means of assigning value to individual sats and monitoring them. Essentially, Bitcoin inscriptions present an innovative way of storing data in the blockchain, offering a reference number for transferring individual Satoshis, even when not officially recorded on the blockchain. In practice, an inscription attaches a file or document, serving as an invoice number or reference point for a specific transaction. Bitcoin inscriptions have gained popularity due to their versatility, enhancing the utility of bitcoin sats by associating digital artifacts with Satoshis. The success is evident in the rapid adoption, with approximately 1.2 million image-based inscriptions generated within the initial 200 days of their introduction.