Ordinals (inscriptions)

Ordinals is a protocol by the developer Casey Rodarmor. It builds on Bitcoin without changing its rules and makes individual satoshisGlossarySatoshi (sats)The smallest unit of Bitcoin: 1 satoshi (‘sat’ for short) equals 0.00000001 BTC, so one bitcoin consists of 100 million sats. The unit is named after Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.On the learning path: Stage 1 · Step 4 – Sats & units →In the glossary →× distinguishable.^[1]

How it works

• Numbering: every satoshi gets a number in the order in which it was mined. In transactions, a ‘first in, first out’ rule determines which output it ends up in.^[1]
• Inscriptions: content such as an image or a text is assigned to a satoshi. The data sits in a TaprootGlossaryTaprootA soft fork from November 2021 that introduced Schnorr signatures and more flexible spending conditions. Complex arrangements such as multisig can look like a simple payment. Taproot addresses start with bc1p.In the glossary →× script. Such scripts allow almost any content and benefit from the SegWitGlossarySegWit (Segregated Witness)A 2017 soft fork that treats signature data (the ‘witness’) separately. It fixed transaction malleability, increased block capacity and makes payments with modern addresses (bc1q…) cheaper.In the glossary →× fee discount, which makes storing data relatively cheap.^[2]

The first inscription on the main network was created on 14 December 2022; in January 2023, Rodarmor released the method for everyone.^[3]

Why it is controversial

Supporters see a permitted use that earns miners fees. Critics see Bitcoin as money, not data storage: in their view, data competes with payments for block space and makes running a nodeGlossaryNodeA computer that runs Bitcoin software and exchanges transactions and blocks with other nodes. Together, the nodes form the Bitcoin network; full nodes check every rule themselves.On the learning path: Stage 1 · Step 3 – How does Bitcoin work? →In the glossary →× more expensive. The dispute also spread to OP_RETURNGlossaryOP_RETURNA command in Bitcoin’s scripting language that marks a transaction output as provably unspendable. It lets data be written into the blockchain. How much of it nodes should relay has been hotly disputed since 2025.In the glossary →× and in August 2026 led to the BIP-110 split, a chain that has barely been used.^[4] Forks & controversies explains both sides.

We explain inscriptions but don’t recommend buying any. For your normal bitcoin holdings, nothing changes.