In a significant development, the Open Ordinals Institute, a nonprofit venture associated with the groundbreaking “Ordinals” project, made its public debut on August 1, marking a new chapter in Bitcoin’s cryptoverse. The debut coincided with the noteworthy milestone of Ordinals achieving 21 million inscriptions. This inventive endeavor, initiated by developer Casey Rodarmor, allows users to assign various forms of data – including art and playable games – to a satoshi, the smallest fraction of Bitcoin, heralding a radical shift in the way we perceive the scarcity of digital artifacts.
The California-based Institute was formed to foster and finance the Ordinals protocol’s development, focusing on its core group of developers. Among them is the pseudonymous lead maintainer ‘Raph’, whose identity remains shrouded in mystery. The move towards a nonprofit structure is considered a strategic maneuver to avail significant tax benefits.
The Open Ordinals Institute’s board is predicted to comprise four visionaries: Raph, Rodarmor, Erin Redwing, the host of Hell Money podcast, and a technical maven who goes by the pseudonym ‘Ordinally’. Together, they are expected to provide strategic guidance and governance for the Institute.
This move to a nonprofit structure mirrors other cryptocurrency ventures, despite being in nascent stages. A newly launched platform, Ordinals.org, is set to provide transparency and updates, with regular postings about the project’s development and community updates.
The project’s birth comes against the backdrop of Rodarmor’s earlier announced intention to take a step back, yet he continues to be an active contributor on GitHub, showcasing his commitment to refining and developing the protocol’s features.
In a symbolic turn of events, the Ordinals inscriptions hit the significant figure of 21 million, on the very day the Open Ordinals Institute was announced. This number resonates with the Bitcoin community as it mirrors Bitcoin’s total supply cap of 21 million Bitcoin.
Crypto exchanges and NFT marketplaces are swiftly adapting to support art-based inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens. Notwithstanding a recent drop in activity and trading volume linked to Ordinals inscriptions, ‘Ordinally’ emphasizes the importance of this lull, encouraging the community to “take a breath and start focusing again.”
From its onset, Ordinals has disrupted the conventional outlook on digital artifacts’ scarcity. As the project evolves under the stewardship of the Open Ordinals Institute, it is poised to diverge considerably from current NFT ecosystems.
The journey that began with assigning data to the humble satoshi is rapidly reshaping the contours of the crypto landscape. It encapsulates the spirit of innovation and inclusivity that the Open Ordinals Institute stands for, moving beyond the limits of conventional cryptocurrencies and echoing the transformative power of free and open-source software for the internet and beyond.
This nascent yet significant venture remains committed to supporting not just developers, but also designers, reviewers, researchers, educators, and those creating user-friendly tools. By making the creation of Bitcoin Digital Artifacts accessible to a wider audience, the Institute is indeed taking significant strides towards democratizing the crypto sphere.
As we witness the unfolding of the Ordinals saga, one thing is clear – we’re on the brink of an exciting new epoch in the crypto world, one that transcends traditional boundaries and redefines the way we perceive and engage with the digital realm.
To donate and for more information, you can visit https://ordinals.org/
