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Ordinal Punks become platform’s most popular NFT project

Madelyn Stewart Madelyn Stewart on February 13, 2023

Ordinal Punks – Since the late January launch of the Ordinals project, Bitcoin NFTs have become the hottest topic in the Web3 space.

In the past NFT network launches, CryptoPunks was one of Ethereum’s pioneering and memorable NFTs.

Now, cloned versions of the influential tokens are becoming a hot topic in association with Ordinals.

Origins

Larva Labs developed CryptoPunks in 2017, a seminal NFT project that laid the foundations for the modern NFT trend of being used as PFPs.

With a collection of 10,000 Ethereum assets, they were initially launched at a free mint before the NFT market started gaining momentum.

Since then, CryptoPunks have generated nearly $2.5 billion worth of trading volume.

A different kind of clone

In late January, the Bitcoin blockchain welcomed the arrival of Ordinals.

Although fairly new, there are already multiple CryptoPunks-inspired projects gaining traction on the platform.

Amid the multiple rising projects, Ordinal Punks have been the most prominent of the fray.

Ordinal Punks are 100-pixel avatars “inscribed” on Bitcoin via the Ordinals project.

They can also be traded.

Compared to other CryptoPunks clones seen in the last few years, Ordinal Punks aren’t direct clones of the original collection.

Ordinal Punks

The project has Crypto Twitter stirring as some believe the project takes more after a different derivative Ethereum collection: Mutant Punks.

However, one user linked to Ordinal Punks clarified that the project used an open-source algorithm, utilizing CCo Punk sprite sheet to come up with new Punks.

On Wednesday, an Ordinal Punk for 9.5 BTC, almost $215,000 worth.

The price is around double the entry level for a legitimate CryptoPunk (64 ETH or nearly $106,000).

One particular Ordinal Punk is based on a rare alien CryptoPunks, which previously  sold for almost $24 million worth of ETH.

Read also: Ordinals project continues to divide the Bitcoin community

Price & difference

One NFT collector and investor shared that he bought a bundle of seven Ordinal Punks for 15.2 BTC on Wednesday, translating to a worth of around $349,000 at the time.

However, due to Ordinal’s fresh introduction, they function in a unique way compared to other normal NFTs on platforms like Ethereum and Solana.

Currently, there’s a lack of infrastructure to support buying and selling NFTs once they’re described.

For lack of better terms, Ordinals don’t have Bitcoin NFT marketplaces at the moment.

Trades

Trades are occurring over the counter (OTC) between users or escrow services at the moment.

Asking prices and bids are tracked through online spreadsheets.

The trades are facilitated via Twitter and Discord as collectors are keeping tabs on the Ordinal Punks.

Some collectors anticipate that the early Bitcoin “inscriptions” will become more valuable over time.

dingaling, the pseudonymous NFT collector who bought the Ordinal Punks bundle, tweeted about the potential the platform has.

“There’s [a] real moment behind Ordinals and things are still very very early,” they wrote.

“There are opportunities everywhere.”

“Orderbooks are currently updated on shared spreadsheets and sales are only done via OTC/escrow. But there’s lots of building being done behind the scenes.” 

Potential dangers

While Ordinals is a promising platform, it also has its downsides.

For example, it lacks infrastructure, which means the current trading model is prone to scams and hacks.

Crypto Twitter users have already raised the issue online.

Pseudonymous NFT collector, TheNorwegian, wrote a viral Twitter thread calling out possible issues with the collection, asking if it’s the “biggest NFT scam of all time.”

Other projects

Apart from Ordinal Punks, the platform also has another notable project called Bitcoin Punks.

The project holds replicas of the original 10,000 CryptoPunks on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Punks is dubbed as the first 10,000-piece NFT project launched through Ordinals.

The assets have already been minted by collectors at zero cost.

However, it’s unclear how much trading demand there is for the Bitcoin Punks collection at the moment.

A project moderator warned holders on the official Discord server to be careful when trading before they complete a code audit.

Image source: LinkedIn

Ordinals project continues to divide the Bitcoin community

Greg Jackson Greg Jackson on February 13, 2023

Ordinals – In January, the Bitcoin blockchain launched a project that enables Bitcoin-native on-chain NFTs, creating a divide in the Bitcoin community.

Advocates, developers, and enthusiasts argued against the merits of a JPEG’s inclusion on the blockchain.

As debates continue, a Dune report showed that the number of Bitcoin inscriptions using Ordinals already went beyond the 11,000 mark on Tuesday.

The project

Ordinals is Bitcoin’s latest project in an effort to bridge NFTs to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

In 2014, they launched Counterparty to introduce NFTs to Bitcoin with the Rare Pepes collection.

Three years later, they launched Stacks.

However, the latest project is different due to the assets (JPEGs and video games) being directly inscribed on satoshis on the blockchain.

In addition, they no longer need sidechains or additional tokens.

A divide

The Ordinals project has become a hot topic within the Bitcoin community, spurring debates and questions about the Bitcoin network endgame.

Others say the project opened the network to a series of threats, such as malware attacks and surging transaction fees.

However, it isn’t all negative.

Dan Held, a veteran Bitcoiner, tweeted his support, saying Ordinals is good for Bitcoin.

“Hal Finney would like Bitcoin NFTs,” he wrote, attaching a screenshot of an email by the late Hal Finney, who wrote about crypto trading cards.

Hal Finney is a figure believed to be the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto of Bitcoin.

Finney passed away in 2014.

Inscriptions

Ordinals have dubbed NFTs “digital artifacts,” while the rest of the Bitcoin community members call it “inscriptions.”

The inscriptions are live thanks to a Bitcoin Taproot feature upgrade in November 2021, allowing arbitrary data storage.

Interest in the project has increased following developer Casey Rodarmor’s project launch on January 21, 2023.

Many are eager to push the limits of the inscriptions on a satoshi.

Read also: Crypto ads won’t feature as much in Super Bowl

Application innovation

Alex Adelman, the co-founder and CEO of Lolli, called Ordinals a homecoming moment for the top cryptocurrency project.

“The Ordinals project is a milestone for bitcoin [SIC], demonstrating how innovation on the bitcoin network can give rise to a breadth of new applications beyond its use as sound money,” said Adelman.

Despite his praise for Ordinals, Adelman still believes Bitcoin still lags behind Ethereum when it comes to the investment and talent committed to innovating and developing new applications.

However, Bitcoin NFTs will likely lure in new interest and capital, creating opportunities for developers to build unique solutions that can facilitate scalability and efficiency.

A lack of features

Although Bitcoin has spurred attention to the original blockchain with NFT minting, Ordinal inscriptions still lack features typically associated with NFTs.

For example, Ordinals don’t have smart contracts, a feature the Bitcoin blockchain doesn’t natively support.

Brian Laughlan, a Satoshibles developer, offered that the limitations will bring more attention to other projects like Stacks.

“The reason I am bullish on Stacks even more now is because people will eventually start to feel the limitations of Ordinals – high main chain fees, no smart contracts, etc,” said Laughlan.

“They will look to L2 solutions, and Stacks is ready to fill that gap.”

The Satoshibles developer explained that the backlash from Bitcoin extremists have drowned out Stacks’ voice from being heart.

He also said Ordinals is the best thing that could have happened for Stacks.

“Now more people are looking at Bitcoin than ever,” said Laughlan.

“You got ETH Maxis running Bitcoin nodes and Bitcoin Maxis loving jpegs all of a sudden. The world has gone mad.”

The debate around Ordinals is set to continue, widening the gap in the community.

However, whether Bitcoin maxis like it or not, the inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchains are going to stay for a long time.

Image source: Forbes

69 DeGods NFTs swept in massive buy

Greg Jackson Greg Jackson on January 24, 2023

Image source:

DeGods: NFT whales are individuals or entities that own large amounts of NFTs, which are digital assets that are unique and cannot be replicated.

They may be collectors, investors, or creators of NFTs, and they often have significant influence in the market.

Due to their ownership of a large number of NFTs, they can potentially control the supply and demand of certain NFTs, as well as the prices.

One NFT whale spent a bulk to obtain 69 DeGods NFTs through Magic Eden, intending to bridge them to Ethereum.

DeGods NFT

In the Solana NFT space, DeGods have become one of the most prominent NFTs, racking the most trading volume in SOL than other projects.

DeGods is a Solana-based NFT collection of deflationary art comprising 10,000 virtual gods.

The NFT project plans to make the switch to Ethereum, attracting the attention of a prominent player in the space.

DeGods NFTs launched in late 2021 but only rose in prominence and value in 2022.

DeLabs developer, under Rohun Vora or the pseudonymous Frank, debuted a reward token.

It also rolled out new art pieces and bought the rights to a BIG3 basketball league team.

Finally, DeLabs launched y00ts, a follow-up project to DeGods.

The news

On Monday, Pokeee, a pseudonymous NFT trader, spent almost $1 million to buy 69 DeGods NFTs.

He bought the NFTs via the Magic Eden marketplace with tools that allow buyers to “sweep the floor,” otherwise known as buying specific amounts of NFTs from a project.

Traders typically purchase amounts of low-priced NFTs in a project as an investment, especially in the event of the collection becoming a future success.

Purchase buildup

On January 13, Pokeee promised to make the massive purchase if his tweet reached 1,000 likes .

He said he would buy 69 DeGods NFTs to support the project’s switch to Ethereum.

Three days later, he made the purchase for over $900,000.

Read also: Build Your Realm draws similarities to Game of Thrones’ final season

The marketplace

Previously, Magic Eden only allowed 50 NFTs to be purchased at a time with its bulk buying feature.

However, a prospective buyer prompted the marketplace to upgrade its functionality and enable the larger mass purchase.

The buyer urged the marketplace that the change was of “ultimate inconvenience.”

Pokeee

The massive DeGods buyer claims to own the Pokeee.eth Ethereum, holding three valuable Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, the titular Ethereum Name Service (ENS), and other NFT collectibles.

In addition, Magic Eden posted through its website, saying Pokeee claimed he runs a private crypto fund.

The NFT collector also confirmed he bought the NFTs to aid the move to Ethereum.

“My purpose of this investment is actually to have them bridged to ETH,” said Pokeee.

“Due to on-chain risks, I wasn’t able to deploy larger portions of my portfolio into Solana.”

“I was having fun in Solana on smaller NFTs and mints back then.”

Trading volume

According to CryptoSlam data, DeGods have garnered over $135 million worth of trading volume.

The NFT project’s total USD trading value beat projects like Solana Monkey Business and Degenerate Ape Academy, both of which were popular SOL had more value.

As a result, DeGods tops all SOL projects with 3.7 million SOL worth of trading.

The switch

In late December, DeLabs announced that the DeGods NFT project will be bridged to Ethereum’s mainnet.

Meanwhile, y00ts will head over to Polygon, an Ethereum sidechain.

DeLabs plans to complete the switches by the end of the current quarter.

In addition, they disclosed that they received a $3 million grant from Polygon Labs, allowing y00ts to switch over to Polygon.

DeLabs will put the funds into hiring efforts and later launch a crypto incubator as a means to support the NFT ecosystem.

References:

A Bored Ape whale just spent nearly $1 million on DeGods NFTs

Polygon paid y00ts NFT collection $3 million to leave Solana

Yuga Labs’ founders stand with creators for marketplace creator royalties

Greg Jackson Greg Jackson on January 16, 2023

Image source: The Cryptonomist

Yuga Labs’ founders, the people behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club, are calling out marketplaces rejecting creator royalties.

The founders defended NFT creators in an issue causing marketplaces to reject them.

The Yuga Labs’ founders proposed a community-governed ‘allowlist’ model that allows creators to decide the marketplaces that can handle secondary sales of their works.

Royalty

The top NFT marketplace OpenSea made the rounds over the weekend when it said it might follow the current trend to reject royalty for NFT creators.

The trend includes the absence of enforcing creator royalty on secondary sales.

As a result, many creators are opposing their decisions.

In a turn of events, Yuga Labs’ founders also join their cause.

Founders Wylie “Gordon Goner” Aronow, Greg “Garga” Solano, Kerem “Tomato” Atalay, and 10KTF CTO Randy “Melonpan” Chang published a post recently.

The post says that the Yuga Labs’ founders are decrying the industry’s shift from honoring creator royalties.

Instead, they proposed a technical solution to enforce creator royalty.

Read also: Yuga Labs co-founders share plans of turning ‘Otherside’ into a Web3 Roblox for adults

The proposal

The Yuga Labs’ founders suggest an ‘allowlist’ model that lets creators approve secondary trades through marketplaces that honor royalties.

If a marketplace’s smart contract is listed, the transaction goes through; if not, it won’t.

However, standard wallet-to-wallet transfers will remain unaffected.

“The NFT ecosystem would be a tiny fraction of what it is today if it weren’t for creator royalties,” the Yuga Labs’ founders wrote.

“The leading marketplaces of the past couple years would be nowhere if they hadn’t supported them.”

They noted that when the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs launched last year at $220 worth of Ethereum, they set a 2.5% creator royalty on secondary sales.

The founders explained that it’s the amount OpenSea charged for its marketplace fee.

The royalty fee is lower than what other NFT creators chose, which is often between 5% and 10% of the sale price.

“The end result has been that OpenSea has made around $35 million dollars from Bored Ape sales on its platform, not including any of our other collections,” they wrote.

“We’ve never met the founders, but perhaps they have a beach house somewhere with a plaque for us.”

Yuga Labs

According to Galaxy Digital, the BAYC founders earned more than $147 million from creator royalties on secondary sales last month.

However, NFT royalties today aren’t as durable.

While creators can set them in smart contracts, they aren’t fully enforceable on-chain.

Marketplaces should honor them as most have until recently.

Read also: ApeCoin price drops after reports of a Yuga Labs investigation surfaces

The marketplaces

In the Solana NFT space, almost all secondary sales take place on platforms that either reject creator royalties or make them optional.

The move came after Magic Eden made them optional after losing market share to rivals.

Meanwhile, in Ethereum, marketplaces like LooksRare, Blur, X2Y2, and Sudoswap also took a similar approach.

OpenSea always honored creator royalties, but the firm acknowledged the shift in the space.

They said that it might make creator royalties optional for traders and that exploring new enforcement models or only requiring royalties for certain projects.

Creators in the Web3 space didn’t take to the OpenSea news well.

Yuga Labs’ founders joined the cause, saying the rejection of creator royalties is a “race to the bottom” they believe OpenSea will participate in.

Reference:

Bored Ape Founders propose NFT royalties model, decry OpenSea’s stance as ‘not great’