The Ordinals Paradox

How are we to think about these so-called Ordinals inscriptions? You know, those mysterious iterations of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin network?

Have you noticed, dear reader, the declining trend that has befallen these digital artifacts? Did you see the way profits from Ordinals spiraled downwards in July, plunging like a wayward bird from a dazzling height of US$3.13 million in June to a disheartening US$1.22 million? A trend marked by some arbitrary string of letters and numbers that is both chaotic and entrancing, or perhaps it's just a cryptographic hiccup?

You've heard of Bitcoin, haven't you? The world's first and grandest blockchain network with a market capitalization towering at US$562 billion. A behemoth claiming 48.2% of the entire cryptocurrency market. But does that dominance translate to a viable and lucrative venture into the world of Ordinals?

Why, then, despite such a drop in profitability, did Ordinals break that daily inscriptions record on July 30? How did it manage to reach 20 million total inscriptions just two days earlier? Is it not curious, the way the market persists in supporting these Bitcoin-native NFTs, even as profit margins sink?

And what of the increasing total transactions juxtaposed against the diminishing number of active Ordinals owners? A paradox or a reflection of a deeper market dynamics? What does Kadan Stadelmann mean by the "oversaturation of Ordinals"? What does he see in the sea of new projects and artists?

Do you agree with Tom Tirman that the persistent creation of Ordinals could be a mere strategic positioning by those investors who had once missed the train? Does this “unsustainable hype” truly have the potential for recovery?

Could you ponder for a moment the declining average sale price for Ordinals? US$9,357 at its peak in March, tumbling to US$214.03 in July. How does it feel, this virtual free fall?

Are traders out of money, as Yehudah Petscher has suggested, or is there something more profound affecting the liquidity issue? And if so, what does this say about the nature of money itself, both tangible and intangible?

Can you perceive the trend lines, connecting Bitcoin with Ethereum, drawing inferences from Standard Chartered's bullish forecast for 2024? A future marked by a halving event, fueling a rise to US$120,000 per Bitcoin. Does this speculation feel grounded in reality or a mere mirage of virtual value?

Finally, dear reader, how are we to reconcile the various voices—Atterman, Liann, Petscher—all sharing their wisdom on the falling profitability of Ordinals and the overall NFT market? Are we in a phase of change, or merely at the whim of an unstable market? What does it all signify, and how will it shape our understanding of virtual value in the digital age?

Consider these questions, then, as a blueprint, a map to ponder the complex, elusive and often perplexing world of cryptocurrency and the specific case of Ordinals. A guided tour through the intricate web of digital finance where reality often mirrors the virtual, and meaning is as non-fungible as the tokens it aims to define.