Bitcoin Frontier Fund, under the stewardship of Stacks Advisor and Ordinals Show host Trevor Owens, unveiled its inaugural accelerator dedicated to Ordinals. Startups joining this accelerator are poised to receive a seed investment of $100,000.
Having previously operated under “Stacks Ventures,” the fund’s roots lie in promoting Stacks ecosystem projects and facilitating other layer-2 Bitcoin solutions. Yet, with the emergence of the Ordinals protocol, pioneered by Casey Rodarmor, a palpable shift in focus has been observed. The Bitcoin Frontier Fund now emphasizes Ordinals and protocols anchored “close to the base layer” of the blockchain.
Up to this point, the Bitcoin Frontier Fund has garnered a significant $6.95M, designed to fortify Bitcoin-centric startups. This pool of funds, backed by notable investors like Muneeb Ali and the Stacks Foundation, is gradually expanding its purview to encompass Ordinals infrastructure firms, with Gamma, Xverse, and Liquidium leading the way.
“With Ordinals, the dream of working intimately with native Bitcoin is becoming a reality,” Owens said. “Casey Rodarmor’s innovation has truly revolutionized the field.”
The Ordinals protocol presents a refined system for denoting Satoshis, the tiniest unit of Bitcoin. It allows for seamless tracking of arbitrary data appended to “ordinal” Satoshi transactions. This breakthrough is lauded for ushering in capabilities akin to NFTs on the Bitcoin platform and is being vetted for its potential to develop new token standards atop Bitcoin.
The future of Bitcoin
Interestingly, while the larger NFT market exhibits a staggering decline, upwards of 90% in some quarters, investments earmarked for Ordinals infrastructure continue to surge. A testament to this trend is Xverse’s recent announcement of a stellar $5 million funding round, spearheaded by Jump Capital, flanked by Bitcoin Magazine Fund’s Franklin Templeton.
The Bitcoin Frontier Fund is poised to conclude its next wave of investments in Ordinals-related initiatives by quarter 4 of 2023 and is now accepting applications here. The deadline is September 15.