Binance to Add Support for Bitcoin Ordinals on NFT Marketplace
Top global crypto exchange Binance announced that it plans to support Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions on its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace by the end of May. This means Binance users will no longer have to use a separate wallet to trade Ordinal inscriptions, also known as Bitcoin NFTs.
Binance’s statement also revealed that it would add “royalty support” for Bitcoin NFT issuers, providing more ways for them to increase their revenues. The integration of Ordinals on the NFT marketplace aims to provide more seamless and efficient trading for Binance users.
The move comes after the rapid growth of Ordinals on the Bitcoin network, which almost doubled in number over the past week, reaching 4.8 million. Binance had already added support for Ethereum, Polygon, and BNB chains in recent years and will start supporting Ordinals later this month.
Bitcoin Ordinals: Attracting Mixed Responses in the Crypto Community
Launched in January 2023, Ordinal inscriptions are digital assets engraved on a satoshi, the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin. As they reside entirely on the blockchain, Ordinals allow users to engrave texts, audio, art, or even video games into Bitcoin.
The unprecedented demand for Ordinals caused a significant bottleneck on Bitcoin, with more than 450,000 unconfirmed transactions on the blockchain. Similarly, Ordinals’ growth led to a massive jump in daily Bitcoin fees of $3.5 million, the highest in two years.
While many in the crypto community have been eagerly awaiting the day they could issue and trade NFTs on Bitcoin, not all have welcomed this idea. Some Bitcoin purists see Ordinals as a departure from the original intent of Bitcoin, which was designed to be used as a medium of exchange and a decentralized store of value. Bitcoin purists believe that Ordinals have introduced elements of centralization and undermined the idea of Bitcoin being a purely digital and value-neutral currency.
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