Developers of the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol have unveiled a highly anticipated upgrade that addresses the long-standing issue of “cursed inscriptions.” These inscriptions, which were either created through erroneous use or intentional misuse of opcodes, rendered them invalid and unrecognized within the system.
However, with the recent upgrade, these previously cursed inscriptions will now be indexed and made tradable, marking a significant milestone for the Bitcoin Ordinals community. The upgrade is known as version 0.6.0 and was officially released on June 4 by the Ordinals protocol developers, including the influential figure @raphjaph.
Just released a new version of ord (0.6.0), which implements the first steps in recognizing more types of inscriptions (cursed inscriptions). Additionally you can now pass in RPC credentials through command-line flags, environmental vars or a config file.https://t.co/Xi6C92cC6z
— raph (@raphjaph) June 4, 2023
Converting Cursed Inscriptions to “Blessed” Ones
The proposal to rectify this issue was first introduced in late April by Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, with the aim of recognizing and converting these cursed inscriptions into what can be aptly described as “blessed” ones.
To accomplish this feat, the upgrade introduces support for a specific subset of cursed inscriptions. By setting a block activation height, the protocol ensures that previously invalid inscriptions of certain types will now be indexed as normal positive inscriptions. This breakthrough holds immense significance as it allows over 70,000 existing but previously unrecognized inscriptions to become tradeable assets within the Ordinals ecosystem.
Renowned Ordinals influencer @LeonidasNFT elaborated on the impact of this upgrade, explaining that the newfound support for cursed inscriptions enables marketplaces to upgrade to version 0.6.0, thereby facilitating the trading of these inscriptions.
“Expect explorers and marketplaces to begin supporting these new cursed inscriptions over the coming week,” @LeonidasNFT noted.
Version 0.6.0 of the Ordinals Protocol just went live!
Here is everything you need to know about this major update:
Many previously unrecognized inscriptions are now indexed by the Ordinals Protocol as "Cursed Inscriptions". This is important because over 70k existing but… pic.twitter.com/Mh1pArg2p9
— Leonidas.og (@LeonidasNFT) June 4, 2023
Additionally, he emphasized that individuals currently holding cursed inscriptions should expect a shift in their negative inscription numbers.
A Milestone in the Bitcoin Ordinals Protocol
Bitcoin ordinals, essentially nonfungible asset artifacts, provide users with the ability to inscribe data onto the smallest division of a Bitcoin, known as a satoshi. These inscriptions can encompass a wide range of digital content, such as art, music, videos, text, code, and even financial instruments.
What sets Ordinals apart is their enhanced security and permanence compared to traditional NFTs, which are often accessible via centralized platforms. While still in its early stages, Ordinals has the potential to revolutionize how we engage with and own digital content. By enabling secure and decentralized ownership and trading of digital assets, Ordinals paves the way for a new era of digital asset interaction.
The Bitcoin Ordinals protocol was initially launched in January 2023 by Casey Rodarmor. Within a month of its release, the inscription frenzy took hold, with thousands of inscriptions imprinted on the Bitcoin blockchain, leading to congestion and spikes in transaction fees.
