Bitcoin maximalists have proved to be highly staunch supporters of the crypto asset. For more than a decade, they have stayed as a united front, but the advent of Ordinals shook up the long-standing narrative. 2023 will be known for many things, one of them being – the Bitcoin community’s split into two warring factions.

The first cohort are Ordinals skeptics and supporters of “staying true” to Bitcoin – using the asset purely to process transactions. The second cohort is Ordinals fans. Both groups have compelling arguments to back up their case, but Vitalik Buterin believes Bitcoin Ordinals’ booming popularity has helped revive the developers of the network.

Vitalik Buterin Praises Ordinals

While addressing a July 7 Twitter Space with Eric Wall and Udi Wertheimer, the Ethereum founder said Ordinals are starting to revive a “culture of actually doing things,” which, according to him, feels like a “real pushback to the laser-eye movement.” He believes this trend is good for the overall ecosystem.

The Ordinals protocol enabled NFTs on the Bitcoin network. Until then, Ethereum dominated the NFT scene. Hence, it can be said that Ordinals played a crucial role in changing the dynamic by bringing NFT creators from Ethereum to Bitcoin. This influx of new developers triggered the transaction fees on the network to soar.

Buterin, however, lauded the BRC-20 token standard and said its increasing prominence signals an outright abandonment of “stagnant” politics that he believes to be plaguing the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Ordinals’ Explosive Year

The latest stats show that Bitcoin Ordinals trading volume rose by 2,834% from Q1 to Q2 of 2023, hitting an astonishing $210.7 million. All-time trades accounted for 554,215 across 150,969 unique traders, suggesting an increasing user interest who are keen on exploring new types of digital assets.

Furthermore, Bitcoin sports over 15 million Ordinals inscriptions at writing time, as per Dune Analytics