BlocksInform
Since the introduction of the new controversial Bitcoin based nonfungible token (NFT) protocol ordinals in mid-December, miners on the largest blockchain have made nearly $600,000 in BTC transaction fees.
According to data from blockchain data platform Dune Analytics, a total of 81,468 Ordinals have been inscribed into the Bitcoin network. This has led to an increase in user activity and, consequently, has increased the number of non-zero Bitcoin addresses.
Minor BTCs cash in computers in two months.
As reported by CryptoPotato, Ordinals are Bitcoin NFTs that leverage the Taproot soft fork to inscribe data in the witness portion of BTC transactions. Created by Bitcoin basic contributor casey rodarmor, they have been designed for the number of individual satoshis - the smallest unit of a bitcoin - on the network.
Despite the level of opposition that ordinals faced during its launch, the protocol has contributed to increasing miners' incomes on the Bitcoin network. In just two months, minors generated an accumulated transaction fee of $574,000, while the number of registrations continues to increase.
Data platform Blockchain Glassnode noted that the emergence of Ordinaux marks the first time in Bitcoin's 14-year history that the network is used for non-monetary purposes.
"This is a new and unique time in the history of Bitcoin, where an innovation generates network activity without a traditional volume transfer of coins for monetary purposes. This describes a growth in the user base and an upwards pressure on the fee market from usage beyond the typical investment and monetary transfer use cases,” Glassnode said.
Ordinals Occupy 50% of Bitcoin Block Space
Furthermore, Glassnode disclosed that the new protocol had brought many new active users with non-zero bitcoin balances to the network, creating upward pressure on the market without significantly increasing transaction fees.
In particular, the ordinal protocol has led to some competition for block space requirements. The upper range of the average block size has been increased from 1.5-2.0mb to 3.0-3.5mb, with inscriptions occupying nearly 50% of the space.
In addition, Taproot adoption and utilization have increased to 9.4% and 4.2%, respectively.
