What are recursive inscriptions on Bitcoin?
Earlier this year, Casey Rodarmor introduced Ordinals, an off-blockchain system for inscribing data onto individual satoshis. These NFT-like ‘inscriptions’ gained rarity traits, became collectibles, and listed for trading on secondary markets. Initially, a new generation of profile pictures (PFPs) birthed on Bitcoin. Although NFTs started on Bitcoin in 2009 with Satoshi Nakamoto’s “chancellor on brink of bailout” inscription as well as Rare Pepes in 2014, modern NFT collectors rarely thought of Bitcoin prior to Ordinals. Most use Ethereum or purpose-built NFT blockchains like Polygon instead. Now, Bitcoin ranks 10th in lifetime sales by blockchain. However, over the last 30 days and mostly thanks to PFP inscription s, Bitcoin ranks 2nd with roughly one-third the volume of the most voluminous blockchain, Ethereum. Some speculate that inscriptions alone could drive Bitcoin NFT sales above Ethereum’s years-long dominance. Others believe that Bitcoin needs something else t...