Ordinals (ORDI) is a cryptocurrency designed for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, focusing on liquidity provision and financial services within the blockchain ecosystem.
The Ordinals protocol innovatively leverages the inherent divisibility of Bitcoin by focusing on the concept of inscribing information directly onto satoshis. Each bitcoin can be subdivided into 100 million satoshis, making for a vast number of individual units available for inscription. Unlike traditional approaches that rely on separate tokens or side chains, Ordinals embeds data directly into these satoshis, encompassing various forms of content such as text, images, audio, and video.
This unique method allows for the creation of what are essentially "mint mints" on the Bitcoin blockchain, where data is encoded onto satoshis in the form of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and tokens. Given the constraints of Bitcoin's block size, the primary focus of these inscriptions tends to be text and images. This approach not only preserves the integrity and security of the Bitcoin network but also enhances its utility by enabling a new layer of functionality where digital content can be stored and accessed directly within the cryptocurrency itself. This integration of data into the smallest unit of bitcoin represents a novel application of blockchain technology, expanding the possibilities for digital asset ownership and decentralized content storage.