Bitcoin Ordinals Upgrade Unlocks 71,000+ ‘Cursed’ Inscriptions

Over 71,000 invalid or “cursed” inscriptions will now be able to be traded, thanks to a new protocol upgrade carried out by the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol’s developers.

“Cursed inscriptions” was the name given to inscriptions that were invalid and unrecognized due to the incorrect use or intentional exploitation of opcodes to create inscriptions.

On June 4, developers, including Twitter user Raphjaph, announced that the Ordinals protocol had been upgraded to version 0.6.0, the initial step in indexing the previously unrecognized inscriptions.

Late in April, the creator of Ordinals, Casey Rodarmor, proposed a solution to the problem that would convert these condemned inscriptions into “blessed” ones.

The upgrade added support for a subset of the various cursed inscription varieties. It accomplishes this by establishing a block activation height at which particular types of previously invalid inscriptions begin to be indexed as standard positive inscriptions.

Ordinals influencer LeonidasNFT explained that these would be added to the list of tradable indexed Ordinals, adding that those possessing cursed inscriptions “should expect the negative inscription numbers to be shifted.”

“This is important because over 70k existing but invalid inscriptions are now supported which means that once marketplaces upgrade to v0.6.0 you will be able to start trading them.”

Bitcoin Ordinals are nonfungible asset artifacts that permit data imprinting onto the tiniest unit of Bitcoin, the satoshi.

Casey Rodarmor introduced the protocol in January, and the following month saw the inscription craze take off as thousands of them were imprinted on the Bitcoin blockchain, causing transaction fee spikes.

Ordinal inscriptions have been compared to NFTs in terms of collectability and rarity.

These early or converted inscriptions on satoshis could become valuable if they are irrevocably etched onto the Bitcoin blockchain.

Since the frenzy began earlier this year, Dune Analytics reports that 10.8 million ordinal inscriptions have generated $45.5 million in transaction fees.

Rodarmor announced on May 28 that he was resigning and passing the reigns to Raphjaph.