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The NodeMonkes Bitcoin Ordinals initiative has recently surpassed the Bored Ape Yacht Club in market value, achieving a staggering 7,300 BTC, equivalent to approximately $490 million, as reported by the cross-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden. In contrast, at the same time, the Bored Ape Yacht Club was valued at 136,500 ETH, or about $483 million, based on data from the NFT analysis website NFT Price Floor.
As of the latest updates, the Ethereum-based Bored Ape collection has regained its lead, yet the gap in market capitalization between the two collections is narrow, with less than a $30 million crypto value difference.
Nodemonkes Ordinals
Introduced in December, the NodeMonkes collection consists of 10,000 8-bit, monkey-inspired digital assets. The market capitalization of an NFT collection is determined by multiplying the lowest price asset by the total number of items in the collection.
In a notable sale, NodeMonkes #2769 was purchased for 17 BTC, roughly $1.08 million at the time, through Magic Eden in February. The lowest asking price for NodeMonkes experienced a significant increase, jumping from 0.53 BTC to 0.83 BTC within a mere 12 hours on Sunday, although it later settled at 0.67 BTC.
The demand for Bitcoin Ordinals projects has surged alongside Bitcoin’s own record-breaking price achievements in recent months. According to Gate.io, Ordinals projects have accumulated $135 million in trading volume over the past week, surpassing the $113 million sales volume of Ethereum-based NFTs.
Another Ordinals project gaining momentum is Runestone, particularly after its March 14 airdrop. This event catapulted the collection of 112,383 tokens into the top three most actively traded NFT projects, as recorded by DappRadar, with a 24-hour trading volume of $5.3 million.
The spotlight on Runestone grew with the airdrop, but enthusiasts are particularly looking forward to the introduction of the Rune token protocol by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor, expected to launch post-Bitcoin halving in April.
Leonidas, an NFT historian and spokesperson for Runestone, explained, “Runestone acts as a precursor to the Runes project. The inscribed Runestones obtained through the airdrop will be convertible into Rune tokens once Casey’s protocol is implemented in 8 weeks.”
Prior to the highly anticipated airdrop, the excitement around Runestone reached a peak with one inscription selling for 8 BTC, about $533,956, at auction.
In response to the growing fascination with Ordinals last year, Yuga Labs, the creators behind Bored Ape Yacht Club, unveiled their own series of Ordinal inscriptions named TwelveFold. This collection features 300 generative art pieces based on NFT technology.
Co-founder of Yuga Labs, shared their enthusiasm: “We’re intrigued by the potential of Ordinal inscriptions and the broader implications for digital collectibles on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
What are Bitcoin Ordinals?
Bitcoin Ordinals are a novel concept that has introduced a unique way to inscribe content directly onto individual satoshis, which are the smallest units of Bitcoin (1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis). This method allows for the embedding of images, text, and even small applications directly into the Bitcoin blockchain, turning these satoshis into distinguishable and collectible digital artifacts.
The term “Ordinal” refers to the order of a satoshi within the Bitcoin blockchain, essentially giving each satoshi a unique identifier or “serial number.” This innovation was made possible by enhancements to the Bitcoin protocol, specifically the Taproot upgrade, which increased Bitcoin’s scripting capabilities and improved its overall efficiency and privacy.
By utilizing Ordinals, users can inscribe data onto satoshis, making each one unique and potentially valuable as a digital collectible or a piece of digital art. This has opened up new possibilities for Bitcoin, extending its use beyond just a digital currency to include aspects of digital ownership and collectibility, similar to NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) on other blockchain platforms like Ethereum. However, unlike traditional NFTs, which are often part of separate blockchain layers or contracts, Bitcoin Ordinals are inscribed directly onto the main Bitcoin blockchain, leveraging its security and immutability.
This development has sparked a new wave of interest and activity within the Bitcoin community, leading to the creation of projects and collections like NodeMonkes, Runestone, and others, as they explore the boundaries of what can be achieved with Bitcoin Ordinals and the concept of digital collectibility on the world’s first and most secure blockchain.
Featured image by Photo by Anne Nygård
