Ordinals Have Proven Demand On Bitcoin, But Fees Will Push Users To Layer 2 By Steven Hay In this opinion editorial by Steven Hay, it is discussed that while there is a significant market demand for Bitcoin NFTs, tokens, and smart contracts the base layer of Bitcoin is not built to sustain this demand. The recent surge of Ordinals, which integrate Bitcoin's blockchain with Ethereum-like innovations, has demonstrated this demand but also highlighted the issue of high fees. Competition for block space between Ordinals, BRC-20 tokens and monetary transactions has led to increased fees. If fees continue to rise, it may reignite discussions similar to the blocksize war and create challenges for Bitcoin. Additionally, the integration of Ethereum-like features into Bitcoin's blockchain raises reputational risks and potential regulatory issues. The author suggests that offloading low-value transactions to Layer 2, similar to the Lightning Network, could help address these issues and allow Bitcoin to accommodate the growing demand for NFTs and tokens while maintaining lower fees and scalability. |