This Bitcoin Ordinals Inscription Was Sold for the Highest Price Ever

The Bitcoin community has just witnessed the largest Ordinals inscription sale of all time amid the resurgence of digital artifacts on the largest blockchain network.

According to a tweet by Solana-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden, Ordinals inscription #8 from the Honey Badgers has been sold for 10.4 bitcoins (BTC) worth approximately $450,000.

We just witnessed the highest Ordinal sale of all time…

Inscription #8

🟧🟧 10.4 BITCOIN SALE 🟧🟧@TheOG_General you are a LEGEND pic.twitter.com/c4uf0R4p0U

— Magic Eden on Bitcoin 🟧 (@MEonBTC) December 7, 2023

The Largest Ordinals Inscription Sale

Data on Magic Eden’s website shows that the Honey Badgers collection has a total supply of 10,000 Bitcoin NFTs ranging from 81557 to 1029518.

Inscription #8 was purchased by pseudonymous X user OG General, who was tagged a legend in Magic Eden’s post. They explained that the inscription was created on January 15 at 1 satoshi per byte (sat/vB) when almost no one cared about Ordinals inscriptions.

“Back to work, I am just warming up. LFG!!… There is only one Web 3 we all need make it. This community, you all are built different. Special thanks to all those who helped educate me and bring me up to speed. Ordinals is not about one sale, It is about where we all our going. Truly blessed and privileged to own a piece of our history,” OG General added.

Ordinals inscriptions, which are artwork like texts, images, and videos inscribed in the witness portion of BTC transactions, have resurged recently. A product of the Taproot soft fork, the mechanism is designed to number individual satoshis, the smallest denomination of a BTC. The inscription of data on the Bitcoin network eventually led to the emergence of Bitcoin NFTs.

Ordinals’ Milestones

Magic Eden launched a marketplace for Bitcoin NFTs in March to enable Ordinals enthusiasts to trade their collectibles easily. Bitcoin inscriptions have inspired the creation of similar protocols on other blockchains, like Ethscriptions on Ethereum.

Per data from blockchain ecosystem analytics platform Dune, approximately $148 million has been spent on fees related to more than 46.5 million Ordinals inscriptions since the protocol was launched in December 2022. The project has hit several milestones, including the first sale of a collection called Bitcoin Shrooms by multinational auction house Sotheby’s.

Unfortunately, Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr has recently called for the shutdown of the Ordinals protocol, claiming that the inscriptions are exploiting a vulnerability and leading to blockchain spam.