The non-fungible token (NFT) market has witnessed an interesting shift with the emergence of Bitcoin Ordinals, despite a 38% decline in total NFT trading volume this quarter. In fact, Bitcoin has surpassed Solana to become the second-most popular NFT blockchain, positioning itself right behind Ethereum as the leading ecosystem for NFTs.
Currently, Ethereum leads the NFT sector with over $24 million in sales, but the rapid rise of Bitcoin’s Ordinals suggests a potential “flip” in the near future, as Bitcoin’s Ordinals NFT are boasting remarkable 129.50% growth in USD sales and attracting close to 10% of the buyer market.
Ordinals are unique digital assets inscribed on a satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. The Taproot upgrade, launched in November 2021, facilitated the creation of Ordinals. Although initially met with criticism, the general Bitcoin community has now significantly embraced Ordinals since their introduction.
The trading volume of Bitcoin Ordinals soared to $210.7 million in Q2 2023, marking a staggering 2834% increase compared to Q1 of the same year. DappRadar reports that the introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions on the blockchain has resulted in over $210 million in trade volume.
The rising interest among new traders in this digital asset were highlighted by the all-time trades and unique traders figures, which stood at 554,215 and 150,969 respectively.
According to a Dune blockchain analytics dashboard, which provides insights into various Bitcoin Ordinals marketplaces, the number of unique users experienced a significant surge starting in May 2023. The majority of unique users across marketplaces are represented by UniSat, an open-source Chrome browser extension for Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens, Magic Eden, and Ordinals Wallet.