Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens continue to gain popularity in the crypto market despite the on-going controversy over the role of Inscriptions. According to Dune Analytics, the total number of Ordinals Inscriptions on the Bitcoin network has surpassed 10 million, with more than $44 million in Ordinals-related fees paid out.
In addition, there are now over 250,000 Inscriptions inscribed daily, down slightly from the peak of 400,000 Inscriptions recorded on May 7. However, more than 80% of these Inscriptions are BRC-20 tokens and also memecoins, showing that most users still only see Ordinals as a place for memecoins on Bitcoin but don’t really believe in its long-term potential.
According to data from brc-20.io, the market cap of BRC-20 is around $430 million, down 50% since it nearly hit $1 billion on May 9. However, the downside of Bitcoin Ordinals is that it drives BTC transaction fees to surge as well as increases the block size, making the Bitcoin network increasingly cumbersome.
On the other hand, a busy network means miners can earn more money from transaction fees. The Block reported that gas fees in May accounted for 14.3% of total revenue of miners. This is the highest rate since April 2021 and has risen sharply from April’s 2.9%.
2024 is approaching in which a Bitcoin halving slashes BTC mining rewards by 50%, impacting the whole crypto industry. As such, miners’ revenue will increasingly depend on transaction fees, which in turn leads them to need to support “busy” activities on the network rather than strict censorship.