When it comes to cryptocurrencies, opinions vary on whether they’re a sound asset to have in your portfolio or an endeavor that is overall too risky to deal with and which is more likely to cause financial losses than gains and extra revenue. However, they have been growing in popularity over the past few years, and a growing number of traders are now using digital coins in order to diversify their holdings. Bitcoin is naturally the most popular of the coins, being the first to appear on the market and the one that served as a blueprint for all the other altcoins. It is the most stable of all the cryptocurrencies, and although it still records price changes and fluctuations, it is nonetheless more likely to retain its value over a long time.
But apart from the coins themselves, investors have become interested in the other projects associated with the blockchain, such as the exchange-traded funds or the Ordinals. The former were approved very recently, on January 10th, while the latter entered the market in early 2023 and have been causing a frenzy ever since. And although more than twelve months have passed since their launch, they continue drawing a lot of interest from investors.
65 million
As of April 11th, the number of Ordinals inscriptions had surpassed 65 million inscriptions, generating almost $500 million worth of total network fees, something that provides miners with something of a lifeline ahead of the upcoming halving which will slice rewards in half overnight. The fact that the ordinals have managed to achieve this milestone shows exactly how popular they have become in a little over a year since their release, once again proving that the cryptocurrency market is very keen on the latest trends and eager to invest in anything new. This popularity also results in considerable returns for those who join in on the hype right away.
Since the assets are a sort of continuation of the NFTs, they are purchased, sold or traded in the same way, and those who want to deal with them must be ready for what that entails. If you want to ensure your transactions are safe, make sure to use a reliable channel, such as Magic Eden ordinals, so that all your transactions are secure and you don’t have to worry about the possibility of losing capital. Since the Ordinals are hosted directly on the main blockchain, unlike their peers, they offer an extra layer of security for investors.
Most popular NFT collections keep their metadata on centralized servers, which creates extra vulnerability points that cybercriminals could exploit to the detriment of the customer base.
BTCFi
The interest in Ordinals indicates that the market is increasingly invested in the prospect of better integration for the coin into the world of mainstream finance. BTCFi, which is short for Bitcoin Finance, is a new way to approach the field of decentralized finance, one that could become more commonplace in the near future and surpass the current DeFi systems in engagement. Understanding its intricacies and specific features is imperative in order to get a comprehensive idea of how the ecosystem can be used effectively. The fact that Ordinals reached the 65 million step of their evolution means that there’s a growing need and demand for additional layer-2 solutions, as well as for extra block space that can support all the new transactions and wallets.
There’s a need for utility as derivatives markets grow, with the trend expected to contribute to the rise of Bitcoin-based L2s, as the programmability necessary for smart contracts and Ordinals will have to become more easily accessible. This is exciting news for Bitcoin users, as the ecosystem has remained quite traditional compared to its altcoin counterparts and was focused solely on transactions and the use of crypto as currency. The fact that the market is evolving and growing into new functionality features so many years after its launch is sufficient reason to cause a stir among community members, who are waiting for the changes and the profitability they will bring as well.
There are some who believe that growth in different directions will do more harm than good and that it can destabilize the market, but there are also analysts and investors who hold the opposite view and are convinced that the marketplace will be able to withstand anything because it has matured considerably over the past few years.
The first step
In this sense, the Ordinals were the first step toward a larger BTC market that includes more functionality. We’ve already discussed how the crypto community is attracted to hype and more likely to join a marketplace that has a lot of new things to offer. If you feel comfortable in such a fast-paced environment and have been thinking about commencing your own portfolio, you might want to consider the Ordinals. As the trading environment continues to grow and develop, it will definitely attract hordes of new investors. Some of those who left the market during the bearish days of 2022 so that their capital wouldn’t plunge even further and they wouldn’t lose even more money are likely to return as well now that Bitcoin is doing much better.
What’s more, if you’re keen on tech developments and innovation, you will definitely want to be among the first to invest in asset classes and trading environments that will act as legitimate game-changers in the long run. These new holdings will most likely serve a wide array of purposes and come with new utilities, and it is naturally exciting to be part of such a market.
To sum up, the ordinals are one of the hottest trends among cryptocurrency investors at the moment, and they are likely to remain so in the foreseeable future. If you’re still on the fence about whether to invest in them or not, you should consider giving them a chance. Although you will have to adjust to the ever-changing nature of the market and the fluctuations it brings, there’s also a lot to gain.