The world of cryptocurrencies is once again ablaze with hype, as the market capitalization of tokens built on top of Bitcoin’s blockchain approaches $1 billion. The surge in value is due in part to the listing of ORDI on major exchanges, which is the first token of its kind.
BRC-20 tokens
BRC-20 tokens are an experimental framework for building fungible tokens on Bitcoin using Ordinals, a protocol that enables people to mint NFT-like assets on Bitcoin called inscriptions. The market for tokens minted on the Bitcoin blockchain is nascent, but it has seen a surge in value over the last few days, as well as an increase in the number of tokens in circulation.
According to brc-20.io, the market cap of all BRC-20 tokens combined totals around $991 million as of this writing, and the market continues to grow. The surge in value is due to the increasing popularity of BRC-20 tokens like ORDI, MEME, PIZA, and DOMO, which are gaining mainstream adoption on cryptocurrency exchanges.
ORDI, which was launched on March 8 by the pseudonymous on-chain data enthusiast Domo, has reached a market cap of around $400 million. Other BRC-20 tokens have followed suit as Bitcoin goes through the kind of meme coin mania that has gripped the wider crypto market in the past with Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and BONK.
On Monday, ORDI was listed for trading on Crypto.com and Gate.io, suggesting the experimental token is gaining mainstream adoption on cryptocurrency exchanges. The price of ORDI on Gate.io was $18.50, a notable drop from its peak of $29.58 set earlier in the day.
Despite the volatility of BRC-20 tokens, the emergent nature of the Ordinals space highlights its potential for growth. The text-based inscriptions, used to create and trade the tokens, are taking over, and image-based inscriptions are becoming less common.
The popularity of BRC-20 tokens is having a noticeable impact on Bitcoin transactions overall, with 65% of Bitcoin transactions on Sunday being related to BRC-20 tokens, according to data from Dune.
The market for BRC-20 tokens is growing rapidly, with ORDI and other tokens gaining mainstream adoption on cryptocurrency exchanges. While the volatility of these tokens is still high, the emergent nature of the Ordinals space suggests that there is still plenty of room for growth and development in the world of Bitcoin-based tokens.
