- Bitcoin Ordinals upgraded to eradicate over 71,000 invalid or “cursed” inscriptions.
- The upgrade will index previously unrecognized inscriptions caused by incorrect or intentional opcode misuse, allowing them to be traded.
- The upgrade also supports a subset of the various types of cursed inscriptions and establishes a block activation height for indexing them.
The Bitcoin Ordinals protocol’s developers have released a new update that aims to cure over 71,000 invalid or “cursed” inscriptions, allowing them to be traded.
The term “Cursed inscriptions” refer to inscriptions created by the incorrect or intentional use of opcodes to create inscriptions, causing them to become invalid and unrecognized.
On June 4, developers, including Twitter user Raphjaph, revealed that the team had upgraded the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol to version 0.6.0, the first step in indexing previously unrecognized inscriptions.
In late April, ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor first proposed fixing the problem by recognizing cursed inscriptions and converting them to “blessed” ones.
The update supported a subset of the various types of cursed inscriptions. It accomplishes this by establishing a block activation height at which specific classes of previously invalid notes begin to be indexed as standard positive inscriptions.
LeonidasNFT, an Ordinals influencer, explained that these would be added to the list of tradable indexed Ordinals, stating: “This is important because over 70k existing but invalid inscriptions are now supported, which means that once marketplaces upgrade to v0.6.0, you will be able to start trading them.”
He also mentioned that anyone with cursed inscriptions “should expect the negative inscription numbers to be shifted.”
About Bitcoin Ordinals
Bitcoin Ordinals are nonfungible asset artifacts that allow data to be inscribed onto a satoshi, the minor division of a Bitcoin.
Casey Rodarmor launched the protocol in January, and thousands were imprinted on the Bitcoin blockchain the following month, causing congestion and spikes in transaction fees.
Ordinal inscriptions have been compared to NFTs in terms of rarity and collectability. Users want a unique piece of data permanently etched onto the Bitcoin blockchain, so early or converted inscriptions on satoshis may become valuable in the future.
According to data from Dune Analytics, 10.8 million ordinal inscriptions have generated $45.5 million in transaction fees since the frenzy began earlier this year.
On May 28, Rodarmor announced he was stepping down and passing the reins to Raphjaph.
