No, bitcoin ordinals do not map data to sets

This is an opinion editorial from bitcoin writer Bitcoms.

“So soon bright things turn into illusion”

-William Shakespeare, “a Midsummer Night’s Dream,

,inscription“Bitcoin is a way of writing arbitrary pieces of information onto the blockchain.”ordinals“is a convention used to track individual sats and link them to inscriptions. This article does not attempt to argue for or against bitcoin ordinal inscriptions. Rather, it is misleading, inaccurate, and sometimes Argues against the dubious ways it can be presented, marketed and sold.

It tackles a widespread misconception that suggests that ownership of common tokens is enforced and protected by the rules of the bitcoin protocol itself (I believe this is not the case). And while this misconception may be duplicitously or innocently claimed, it is always harmful because it can make generic inscriptions more attractive to potential buyers.

Here is a specific example:

“Ordinals allow different types of data including text, images and videos to be denominated on a satoshi (the smallest denomination of bitcoin) and stored permanently on the bitcoin blockchain.”

,introduction documentation For Ordinals Market

This suggests that ownership of the inscription will be protected by the permanence and immutability of the bitcoin timechain. But bitcoin does not enforce ownership of inscriptions, as no inscription is “denoted to a single satoshi” on the blockchain.

as in “general theory manual” Guide to Ordinal Theory Compiled by its developersstates:

,Satoshi lives in the output” Whereas “Witnesses of transactions include inscription material,

while both output data And witness data Claims that scrip data are inextricably linked to “printed” satoshis are stored on the bitcoin blockchain after the SegWit upgrade, creating a misleading impression that any such link is recognized by bitcoin itself.

In fact, the link between an inscription and a specific satoshi is produced serially by a purpose-built external index, It pulls data from the bitcoin blockchain and presents it according to an elegant but ultimately centralized and arbitrary system of rules called “ordinal theory”. These rules are completely irrelevant to the bitcoin protocol, and are described by their originator as similar to astrology,

spread of epigraphical fallacies

But in my view, the many places where ordinal inscriptions can be made, viewed, bought and sold, as well as the statements in media coverage, do not clearly explain the role of the ordinal indexer. Thus, the idea that the inscriptions are “at” or directly embedded in “satoshi”, and that the inscription data and the associated sat are inextricably linked within the bitcoin protocol without the need for an external indexer, has raised an alarm for potential investors. A dangerous illusion has been created. ,

Here are some examples of such statements:

“Normal tokens, similar to NFTs, are digital assets denominated in satoshis, the lowest denomination of bitcoin.”

,ordinals.hiro.so

“…Ordinals are ‘imprinted’ on a Satoshi…Imprinting is the process of putting a piece of data on the blockchain, where it will remain accessible and immutable forever.”

,“Coinbase Bytes” newsletter

“Each sat can be imprinted with data such as jpg, gif, pdf and more, creating a bitcoin ordinal that is then held in a wallet.”

,Gamma FAQ

“What are bitcoin ordinals? Launched in January 2023, they allow the creation of NFTs on the bitcoin blockchain by attaching data to individual satoshis using a process called inscription.

,binance nft twitter account

“For those unaware, common denominators, similar to NFTs, are digital assets denominated in satoshis (the smallest currency unit of bitcoin).”

,coindesk

“Ordinals write a serial number on the satoshi, the smallest currency unit of bitcoin.”

,coindesk 

“Ordinals are printed directly on individual satoshis, which are then included in blocks on the bitcoin blockchain.”

,nairametrics

“…the bitcoin network upgrade … enables each satoshi … to store a few megabytes of data, from text and images to audio and video.”

,reuters

“The token function … is achieved by denoting all data in satoshis, the smallest divisible unit of bitcoin.”

,NYDIG Newsletter

As stated at the beginning, this article does not attempt to show whether common inscriptions are good or bad. It simply highlights the misleading, sometimes sloppy and perhaps sometimes fraudulent way it has been presented, falsely implying that bitcoin itself will enforce token ownership without the use of any external tools.

So, what can be done to ensure that potential buyers of generic inscriptions do not fall prey to this fallacy? We can keep clearing up the confusion by pointing this out.

This is a guest post by Bitcoms. The opinions expressed are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.