Intro to Ordinals

What exactly are Ordinals?

At the most fundamental level, Ordinals are fragments of Bitcoin (sats) that are inscribed with particular data at a particular time. A recent update to the Bitcoin Network by Taproot, enabled the ability of storing bits of data on individual sats, so that images, message, and other small sized media formats, can be written directly onto the world's strongest network. This happens at the root level, without smart contracts or tokens being involved. Each unique inscription is numbered sequentially, based on its order of confirmation; hence the term Ordinal.

How are they different from existing NFTs?

Ordinals are different than existing NFTs on the Ethereum Network and other blockchains, in many ways. Traditional NFTs consist of thousands of different collections on dozens of different chains, each one containing its own smart contract able to mint new tokens for its respective collection. The image file or data associated is then stored on IPFS Servers, and is pointed at the corresponding token ID. So traditional NFTs are representatives of data that's stored outside of the network.

The world of Ordinals on the other hand, is much different. It is essentially 1 giant collection that exists on one single network. There are no new tokens created or minted, and no need for outside servers hosting files. Rather, existing sats are inscribed with data and broadcasted to the network. They are then assigned a sequential number as the network confirms the block of transactions. All image files and data is written directly onto the Sat, rather than IPFS, and are coded into the networks' history for all time.

How Many Ordinals exist?

In the first month of life, over 150K inscriptions were recorded. By mid-March, the 500k mark was crossed, and 10M was breached before June. For reference, at the time of writing there are over 53K Collections of NFTs on Solana alone; with each collection containing hundreds or thousands of NFTs. Near the end of 2022, 1 million NFTs were minted on Solana every 18 minutes. So we are still very early; where Ordinals go from here is anyone's guess.

Why are NiftySats Ordinals cool?

NiftySats has both Ordinals and BRC's that act like keys to future mints & perks. Owning one of our first 100 ordinals called "NiftyPasses" means you get free airdrops for life..at least 13 to start with as we mint out our 12 volume collection of unique PFP's. Owning our BRC-20 called $PERQ automatically Whitelists your wallet for a free mint of those various volumes slated for mint.

What's the history behind NiftySats?

NiftySats is a rebrand and relaunch of a predecessor founded in 2019, called PackagePortal. The project consisted of smart contracts that incentivized delivery ratings, consumer surveys, and product reviews. Users were rewarded with a fungible token called PORT (proof-of-receipt-token), for submitting their feedback about delivery experiences and product quality.

Fungible tokens created with Smart Contracts come with inherent problems. There's a myriad of things to complain about, but most notably, each blockchain is siloed away from the others and cannot communicate with one another. Users then struggle to manage the numerous wallets and standards required, as each chain competes against the other for the same use-cases and userbase, so that their transaction volume can secure and grow the network.

Additionally, in the years following PackagePortal's inception in 2019, fungible tokens underwent intense scrutiny by critics and regulators. Rightfully so in many cases, as the landscape of alt-coins exploded from 2018-2022, with a vast majority of them tied to thin air, offering no services or utility, and often being blatant scams. Right or wrong, in this day and age, wherever fungible tokens are involved, the project and its team are usually met with skepticism and contempt before having the opportunity to defend the viability of any commercial services or value-adds created.

Bitcoin has always been the safest bet within crypto, and we wholeheartedly believe it to be the safest bet out of any global asset class, period. But the tools for building on Bitcoin just didn't exist 4 years ago. However 2023's inception of Ordinals provided the key component needed (data storage) to build out this entire ecosystem on Bitcoin itself. So we redesigned the tokenomics of PORT to migrate its value to the Bitcoin Network. Inscriptions make it possible for specific pieces of Bitcoin to store the value of our entire ecosystem.

How can I get NiftySats?

There's 100 sub1M Ordinals up for grabs with listings starting at 0.02 BTC each. Owning one of these gets you all future ordinals airdropped absolutely free. We also have a BRC-20 token called $PERQ, which is a whitelisted free mint.

How is the NiftySats supply structured?

100 NiftyPass - JPEG Ordinals, inscribed at 660K.
5M $PERQ - BRC-20 as an on-chain whitelist ticket.
12 Volume Collection of 12 different high quality cartoon creatures.

What sort of Perks Can I Expect?

NiftyPass and $PERQ inscriptions grant the holding wallet exclusive access to all future collections in the form of airdrops & free mints. NiftyPass owners will receive first-run airdrops from each and every future collection, while holding a set amount of $PERQ whitelists your wallet for a free mint of the current collection or volume.

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