Bitcoin

Bitcoin: Assessing the full impact of Ordinal Inscriptions

Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions surged, fueling miner revenue and fees. Yet, a recent decline leaves their future impact on the network’s financial landscape uncertain.

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  • Inscriptions have contributed 22% of the total miner revenue since its inception.
  • Inscriptions and inscription fees have, however, been reduced in recent weeks.

Bitcoin Ordinals has caused a major stir ever since its inception, profoundly impacting fees and miner revenues within the network. However, the question remains: To what extent have these inscriptions augmented miner revenue, and what is their current influence on fees and overall revenue?


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Bitcoin miners feel Inscription impact

The introduction of Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions revolutionized the network with NFT-like assets. This innovative asset class opened up a fresh stream of fees and revenue for miners. Recent data from Glassnode revealed the substantial impact of inscriptions on miner fees and revenue. 

Source: Glassnode

Furthermore, since its inception, Bitcoin miners have generated an impressive 1761 BTC, equivalent to approximately $49.9 million, through transaction fees from inscription-related transactions. These fees accounted for around 22% of the total miner revenue from fees, which amounted to $227.8 million since January 23.

Current state of inscription fees

Based on the latest data from Dune Analytics, the cumulative inscription fees have exceeded $53 million as of this writing. However, a closer examination of the daily fee breakdown revealed a recent decline in these fees.

The chart showed a notable surge on 9 May, reaching over 151 BTC, equivalent to more than $4 million. However, as of this writing, the daily fees had plummeted to approximately 4 BTC. This indicated a significant decrease from its previous contribution to fees on the Bitcoin network.

Furthermore, an analysis of the daily Ordinals inscriptions on the Bitcoin network revealed a decline in recent times. Previously, the daily inscriptions reached noteworthy highs.

However, the trend experienced a decrease, although respectable numbers were still observed. As of this writing, the daily inscriptions stood at approximately 1,553.

Inscription fees fail to impact Bitcoin fees

An examination of the fee history on the Bitcoin network revealed the substantial contribution of inscription fees to the overall fee volume. Notably, on 8 May and 9 May, the fees experienced a significant spike, reaching approximately $12 million per Crypto Fees. This spike coincided with a surge in daily inscription fees, as indicated by Dune Analytics data. 

However, as of this writing, the fees decreased to around $1.3 million. Considering the current daily inscription fee based on Dune Analytics, it was evident that the influence of inscription fees on the total fees had diminished significantly.


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The future trajectory of Ordinals inscriptions and their contribution to Bitcoin miner revenue is still being determined.

Whether inscriptions will regain momentum and resume their role in bolstering miner revenue is still unsettled. The dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency market makes it difficult to predict with certainty how this aspect will unfold in the coming times.