Rocketing Bitcoin Ordinals Trading Recorded Days Before the Halving

Just a few years ago, Google processed thousands of search queries for keywords like “ordinals” or the names of the most popular marketplaces, registering a level of demand for products in this category that took the world aback. Now, ordinals, also seen as NFT-style inscriptions on satoshis that create new use cases for what’s known as the largest crypto network, are witnessing renewed levels of craze.

Ordinal trading is reaching new peaks in the few days left, leading to the well-awaited quadrennial event, namely the halving inserted in Bitcoin’s protocol by said anonymous creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Still, how much of the record trading is the merit of the approaching reward-slashing process? What should investors know, and why would they care?

Green flags ahead of us with NodeMonkes’ skyrocketing popularity

NodeMonkes have been on an ascending path for the past months, encountering a level of fame yet to be seen by many of the world’s NFT collections. The NodeMonkes Ordinals collection showcases the intersection of technology, art, and community power in the Web3 ecosystem, representing the first-ever original 10K Bitcoin-based, PFP collection of collectibles built through ordinals.

First minted in February of last year, these stand out from previous satoshi inscriptions such as Bitcoin Punks, specifically as the latter are derived from already-born projects. Fetching no more than 0.03 BTC in December 2023 when they were released at a Dutch public auction, they’ve now come to boast a price floor of over $31K.

The popularity of the asset has been garnered in time. Yet, the upward path seized is a sign of growing interest in the ordinals listed these days on top platforms, specifically since the ETF era has just started in the U.S. and the halving is just around the corner. The frenzy surrounding ordinals at the moment means that these artworks are selling like hotcakes and growing in value, which is enough reason for today’s investors to seek to be all in and place high bets on such additions.

What’s to do with all this info?

Clearly, the spiking demand in NodeMonkes has many individuals flirting with the idea of accumulating some of the promising assets. Yet, the flagship PFP collection of Bitcoin is patently out of many investors’ price ranges.

Luckily, the renewed frenzy indicates a booming BTC ordinals scene, catapulting more ordinals ahead of their game and catalyzing demand in other decently priced Bitcoin NFT projects found across the best of marketplaces.

Solana, for instance, boasts Mad Lads, whereas Ethereum flaunts CryptoPunks, so abundant variety exists within reach. Despite its roaring fame, the Ordinals’ ecosystem has yet to meet its coming of age, so the possibility of other projects turning into big-ticket investments over time isn’t excluded in the Bitcoin world. Yet, for now, it’s safe to say that working with what the first-rate marketplaces offer is the secure way to try your hand!

To what degree does the halving contribute to the frenzy, though?

If you’ve been seeing the keyword “halving” all over the news and wondering what’s the catch, you’re not in the minority. The halving has long spurred a lot of attention and controversy, which is why noting that it was usually linked with price rises in Bitcoin is crucial.

Backtracking to the emergence of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, one can see that the project’s white paper underscores the high amount of energy and hefty CPU costs needed to mine blocks. The halving, a condition included in Bitcoin’s protocol, has every Bitcoin block remuneration halved, which fairly occurs once every 210K mined blocks.

This protocol-included event has commonly been correlated with rises in the price of Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related assets owing to the slashed supply as a result of more challenging mining, catapulting the asset’s valuation to new heights with every reward-reduction event. For instance, the 2012 halving coincided with a hit Bitcoin record price of 1K, whereas the 2016 milestone preceded a whooping 20K price point.

The last halving, occurring in 2020, harmonized with a rally in Bitcoin’s price that eventually pushed it to a new all-time high of $69K. Since Bitcoin has long exceeded this threshold this year and inches again to re-achieve this price point, we can expect ordinals to follow the upward trend and have Bitcoin back on the route to heightened mainstreamness and demand.

Over $51MN, a new breaking point

The beginning of March saw an unexpected spike in Bitcoin Ordinals’ trading volumes, catapulting them to set fresh records of $51MN and more, capping the heaviest price since the last month of 2023. One of the most reputed platforms dealing in Ordinals and NFTs across platforms like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana accounted for approximately $39MN, or over 70% of the whole global trading volume.

However, the rise contrasts with the performances of the month before, when day-by-day trading volumes oscillated between $5MN and $6MN. In the middle of the renewed Bitcoin Ordinals mania and the NodeMonkes’ vogue, indicative of a bright future for inscribed satoshis, we can expect the levels of interest in trading to stay high.

Heightened revenue in the NFT sector

How accountable the halving can be for the frenzy cannot be readily determined, yet the sector now represents a notable revenue stream, and things are bound to stay this way. Financial rewards in the broader non-fungible token sector hiked by 80% and capped a total of over $168MN, translating to a lot of happiness for quick-on-the-uptake investors who leaped when ordinals were still lowkey modestly priced.

News shows that three in five leading NFT collections catalyzing these price gains are rooted in Bitcoin Ordinals, exceeding the revenue from Ethereum. The fresh and rising demand in Ordinals comes at a pivotal juncture when the cryptocurrency inches to new ATHs, suggesting a solid trend, and the halving is often associated with inflating rates.

Rising enthusiasm translates to increasing revenue potential.

The dynamism in the Ordinals market demonstrates that collectors and traders are increasingly demanding the assets, potentially witnessing the dawn of a new era for the unique satoshis.

It’s safe to say that the upcoming months will be full of excitement, so stay close to see what’s being cooked in the oven for investors and aspiring speculators.