Symbolic Destruction of Valuable Ethereum NFT by Bitcoin Enthusiasts Sparks Excitement and Exploration of Ordinals Inscriptions

ByPrateek Arora

Updated: 19 June 2023

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A highly valuable Ethereum NFT from a renowned PFP collection has been permanently removed from circulation and symbolically connected to an Ordinals inscription on the Bitcoin network.

This remarkable feat has garnered attention and celebration from a group of Bitcoin enthusiasts.

Bitcoin Enthusiasts Burn Valuable Ethereum NFT, Embrace Ordinals Inscriptions

The community made a joint decision to destroy CryptoPunk #8611, and it was initiated by Nathan Stein, a developer from Wolf Capital, who shared the idea on Twitter. A group of supporters from the Bitcoin Bandits, a collection of Western-themed Ordinals inscriptions, came together with Stein, and around 150 individuals contributed to this effort.

The decision to destroy CryptoPunk #8611 was a collective decision by the community, initiated by Nathan Stein, a developer from Wolf Capital, through Twitter. Supporters of the Bitcoin Bandits, a Western-themed collection of Ordinals inscriptions, joined forces with Stein, and approximately 150 people contributed to the cause.

Burning a digital asset involves permanently locking it away in a digital wallet that no one controls. In this case, CryptoPunk #8611 was consigned to a well-known burn address that also holds Ethereum worth $21 million.

The burning process was shared on Twitter by an individual named Minh, who referred to the event as “chaotic, yet beautiful.” Minh’s video documented the purchase and subsequent burning of CryptoPunk #8611, creating quite a stir.

Ordinals, a Bitcoin protocol launched earlier this year, enables the creation of NFT-like assets on the Bitcoin network by “inscribing” data onto individual satoshis, which are the smallest units of Bitcoin currency. This data can encompass various forms, including images, videos, or plain text, and has even been utilized to develop BRC-20 tokens.

While NFTs are still considered a relatively new industry in the digital art industry, Ordinals inscriptions are even more recent. Consequently, there has been a surge of excitement, challenges, and scams surrounding Bitcoin, the oldest cryptocurrency, in relation to this emerging concept.

As the Ordinals community continues to evolve, it has become increasingly common to move valuable NFTs from the Ethereum ecosystem to other assets on the Bitcoin network, a phenomenon often referred to as “teleburning.”

Not the First Time for NFT Destruction

The recent burning of CryptoPunk #8611 is not the first instance where a valuable NFT has been deliberately destroyed to symbolically shift an asset’s underlying blockchain from Ethereum to Bitcoin. In a previous incident, an NFT from the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection was burned by an individual named Jason Williams, who found amusement in likening it to destroying a Lamborghini in a trash compactor.

Notably, the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs, emphasized that the Ordinals inscription associated with Williams’ NFT represented an unauthorized ape. They clarified that only tokens originating from the project’s original smart contract are considered valid, granting holders commercial rights and event access.

Unlike Williams’ motive, the burning of CryptoPunk #8611 was not merely for entertainment purposes, according to Nathan Stein. The ultimate objective was to create a series of Ordinals inscriptions representing fractional ownership of CryptoPunk #8611, even though the original asset cannot be owned on its original blockchain anymore.

Once the current inscription pointing to CryptoPunk #8611 is ceremonially transferred to a digital wallet belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, it will be effectively irretrievable, as explained by Stein in a tweet.

Furthermore, the individuals affiliated with the Bitcoin Bandits community, who collaborated in gathering funds and acquiring the digital collectible known as CryptoPunk #8611, have also participated in a connected venture involving the creation of inscriptions.

However, the Bandits’ main objective was to present a potential direction, driven by their conviction that CryptoPunks warrant a distinct environment separate from Ethereum.

Ethereum’s Ethscription Revolutionize NFTs and the Future of Creativity

The Ethereum blockchain is revolutionizing NFTs with Ethscription, a groundbreaking innovation. NFT subscriptions provide creators with recurring income and boost audience engagement. This feature has the potential to transform the NFT market, opening up new opportunities for artists, collectors, and enthusiasts.

EthScripts, inspired by Bitcoin, brings inscriptions to Ethereum’s NFTs, generating excitement among users. Middlemarch, co-founder of Capsule 21, introduced this scripting system, enabling people to create and share digital works using Ethereum transaction calldata.

Ethereum’s smart contracts have already laid the foundation for iconic NFTs, with Axie Infinity, Crypto Punks, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) leading the way.

However, the introduction of EthScripts may increase transaction fees, as seen in the rise of Ethereum’s daily fees to over $4.6 million. Despite this, network usage has not experienced significant growth since EthScripts’ launch, potentially impacting its adoption.

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