Complete Guide to Bitcoin Inscriptions and Inscription Coins: From Zero Foundation to Investment Decisions

The Essence of Inscriptions and Inscriptions Coins: Breaking Through Bitcoin’s Technical Limitations

To understand the revolutionary significance of Bitcoin inscriptions, one must first grasp the structural limitations of Bitcoin and the breakthroughs of the Ordinals protocol.

Bitcoin has a fixed total supply of 21 million coins, each composed of 100 million satoshis, meaning the entire network has 2.1 quadrillion satoshis. The key issue is that: each satoshi is interchangeable and can be exchanged for another, and this homogeneity prevents Bitcoin from supporting smart contracts, issuing tokens, or NFTs like Ethereum.

In December 2022, Bitcoin core developer Cassie Rudomer launched the Ordinals protocol, which changed everything. The protocol assigns a unique number to each satoshi, giving it an uncopyable, unique identity. When users write images, text, or code (limited to 4MB) onto a specific satoshi, these embedded data become inscriptions—effectively issuing NFTs on Bitcoin.

To illustrate: originally, 100-dollar bills are indistinguishable (homogeneous), but once signed, its value surpasses that of a regular bill. The logic of inscriptions is similar—by giving Bitcoin a unique marker, the previously indistinguishable assets are differentiated, leading to diversified applications like Inscriptions Coins.

Three Major Technological Breakthroughs of Bitcoin Inscriptions

After reaching a peak of $64,400 in November 2021, Bitcoin’s price remained sluggish, dropping over 70% by the end of 2022. The emergence of the Ordinals protocol completely reversed the development ecosystem.

First turning point: Taproot upgrade (November 2021)
Bitcoin completed one of its most important upgrades, enabling large-scale capacity expansion, attracting a vast number of developers.

Second turning point: Launch of the Ordinals protocol (December 2022)
Technically enabled the possibility of inscriptions, but lacked practical tools at the time.

Third turning point: Launch of the BRC-20 protocol (March 8, 2023)
Twitter user domodata created BRC-20 based on the Ordinals protocol, integrating scattered inscription capabilities into a batch-deployable token standard. If Ordinals is a machine tool for processing parts, BRC-20 is an automated assembly line—massive applications of inscriptions coins have thus entered the fast lane.

Why Did Bitcoin Inscriptions Suddenly Explode in Popularity? The Power of Market Recognition

Compared to Ethereum’s early advantage and mature ecosystem in smart contracts, why did Bitcoin inscriptions catch up and even surpass?

Brand Effect: In the blockchain market, recognition correlates strongly with value. Bitcoin, as the oldest, safest, and most consensus-driven digital asset, has a brand value far exceeding other cryptocurrencies. As a result, inscriptions coins and NFTs issued on Bitcoin inherently attract more attention and trust.

Exchange Support Turning Point: In May 2023, a major cryptocurrency exchange announced support for Bitcoin inscription-related tokens, becoming the first mainstream platform to support such products. This move addressed the core liquidity issue—previously, investors could only trade via decentralized exchanges (DEX), facing high network fees and long settlement times. As more major exchanges follow suit, transaction costs for inscriptions coins drop significantly, and market participation explodes.

The Current State of Inscriptions Coins and NFT Market: Rapid Growth with Warnings

By the end of 2023, Bitcoin inscriptions experienced explosive growth. According to cryptoslam, as of December 29, 2023, NFT trading volume based on Bitcoin technology reached $1.84 billion, ranking fourth among global public chains, behind Ethereum, Solana, and Ronin.

NFT Trading Volume Rankings by Chain:

1. Ethereum: $74.69 billion
2. Solana: $4.78 billion
3. Ronin: $4.25 billion
4. Bitcoin: $1.83 billion

However, behind this hot trend lie hidden concerns:

Sharp Rise in Transaction Fees: Due to large data sizes of images, audio, and other inscriptions, more block space is consumed, significantly increasing the cost of minting inscriptions coins. Compared to early 2023, cheap inscriptions are now hard to find.

Sustainability of Market Hotness: Under high costs, how long retail participation can be maintained remains a key question.

How Can Retail Investors Participate in Inscriptions Minting? Practical Guide

If you’re interested in inscriptions coins and creation, the process is straightforward:

Step 1: Open a cryptocurrency Web3 wallet (via mainstream exchanges or independent wallets)
Step 2: Purchase or transfer BTC into your wallet
Step 3: Enter the market—select the “Inscriptions” module, choose the “Inscription” function
Step 4: Choose the type based on your needs:

• To mint fungible assets for trading on exchanges → select “BRC-20 inscriptions,” input token code, amount, and recipient address
• To create a unique asset on the blockchain → create an NFT inscription

Comparison of NFT and Inscriptions Coins:

The Future of Inscriptions Coins: Investment Advice

Current Situation Analysis:

Bitcoin is at a critical stage balancing innovation, decentralization, and security. The emergence of inscriptions coins marks an important breakthrough in Bitcoin’s application layer, but the market is still in exploration.

Current Status:

• Mainstream exchanges support and boost focus on inscriptions coins
• High transaction costs limit large-scale participation
• Number of projects explodes, but quality varies
• Whether market enthusiasm can be sustained remains a big question

Investment Suggestions:

We advise retail investors to remain cautious and avoid large-scale investments in inscriptions coins or related NFTs impulsively. Bitcoin’s current price is $91.90K, and the overall market is still in early exploration.

If you have higher risk tolerance and want to try trading inscriptions coins, consider:

• Controlling your investment size, only using idle funds
• Setting stop-loss and take-profit levels in advance
• Doing thorough research and understanding project fundamentals

Conclusion: Are Inscriptions Coins the Future or a Bubble?

Bitcoin inscriptions are undoubtedly an innovative breakthrough in blockchain. Enabled by Ordinals and BRC-20 protocols, Bitcoin has evolved from a simple store of value to an application platform. The appearance of inscriptions coins extends Bitcoin’s application boundary from financial attributes to asset representation.

However, the current inscriptions coin market is still in a wild growth phase—mainstream exchange support brings liquidity but also attracts a lot of speculative capital. High transaction fees, opaque project evaluation systems, and regulatory uncertainties are risks that retail investors need to be wary of.

The conclusion is clear: Bitcoin inscriptions are undergoing a critical development period. Short-term opportunities may still exist, but the long-term direction is uncertain. Investors should stay calm and restrained, avoid being driven by market sentiment, and use limited funds cautiously to test the waters rather than blindly betting on inscriptions coins.