Ordinal Theory
In January 2023, Casey Rodarmor introduced Ordinal Theory, sparking a trend on the Bitcoin network reminiscent of the NFT minting craze on Ethereum. By allowing users to embed arbitrary files (such as images, text, videos, etc.) within satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin), each not exceeding 4MB, various files can now be stored on the blockchain.
Ordinal Theory establishes a numbering scheme for satoshis, enabling the tracking and transfer of individual sats. These numbers, known as ordinals, constitute Bitcoin's digital namespace. Satoshis are numbered based on the order in which they are mined and are transferred from transaction inputs to outputs in a first-in, first-out sequence.
The concept of ordinals was actually created by Satoshi Nakamoto during the mining of the Bitcoin genesis block in 2009.
On August 21, 2012, Charlie Lee proposed adding Bitcoin Proof of Stake on the Bitcoin Talk forum. While not an asset scheme, it did use the ordinal algorithm and has been implemented but never deployed.
On October 8, 2012, jl2012 presented a scheme on the same forum, utilizing decimal representation and possessing all the essential properties of ordinals. The plan was discussed but never implemented.
The independent invention of these ordinals to some extent suggests that ordinals are discovered or rediscovered rather than invented. They are a mathematical inevitability in the context of Bitcoin, stemming not from their modern documentation but from their ancient origins. They represent the culmination of a series of events initiated many years ago with the mining of the first block. Source:
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