Leonidas, the pseudonymous founder of Ord.io, an ordinal explorer, has reported one of the largest sales of inscriptions, so-called Bitcoin native non-fungible tokens (NFTs), to date. Leonidas stated that the second inscription on the Bitcoin blockchain was sold for 24.48 BTC (over $1.1 million), and predicted that more sales will beat this record in the short term.
Inscriptions Market Records Biggest Sale to Date: 24.48 Bitcoin
Ordinal Inscriptions, a protocol that allows the display of images and other data directly on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, is breaking sales records. Leonidas, the founder of ord.io, an inscription browser/explorer, declared the largest ordinal sale ever recorded on February 28, when the second inscription in the Bitcoin blockchain changed hands.
This inscription sold for 24.48 BTC, which was worth approximately $1.1 million at the time of writing. The non-fungible token (NFT) is part of the Bitcoin Budgies collection and features an animation of a cartoon parakeet moving its head against a black background. The asset was registered on December 19, 2022 for 2,479 sats. The inscription reached its record price in a year and two months.
Leonidas expressed optimism about the near-term future of the ordinals protocol as part of a looming cryptocurrency bull market. He claimed:
1 sold for the first time last night for over $1 million. Before this cycle is over, I predict that 1 sat will sell for over $100 million. Ordinals is just getting started.
There have been relevant sales before involving significant sums of money for ordinal numbers. For example, “Genesis Cat,” a unique piece from the Quantum Cats collection, sold for $254,000 at a Sotheby’s auction held in January. “Genesis Cat” managed to beat its sales estimate by 6x.
However, Inscriptions remains at the forefront of a debate that has two sides: one that sees them as an evolution in the use of the Bitcoin block space and a new enabling technology, and those who believe it is spam that does not comply with the rules of the Bitcoin network.
What do you think of the largest inscription sale ever? Tell us in the comments below.
