The Complete Guide To Ordinals aka Bitcoin NFTs.

 Ordinals for Dummies.




Over 50k Ordinals have been created and have blown up with the complex and lengthy process, that’s actually very impressive.
Even ETH maxis are feeling some FOMO. But the majority of crypto twitter and NFT Degens are completely lost.





The timeline is full of a lot of questions: - What is bitcoin core? - How do I run a node? - Do I need a specific Bitcoin Wallet? - Can I buy an Ordinal?

It’s a lot to take in and most of the tutorials are super technical.




Ordinals were made possible by the Taproot upgrade. (The Taproot upgrade paved the way for on-chain NFT creation via Inscriptions.) Think of Taproot like the ERC721 standard for Ethereum. Basically: Ordinals are the jpeg, Taproot is the token, and Bitcoin is the chain.





Bitcoin Ordinals:

- Anyone can mint (inscribe) one - You can do it yourself (hard) or w/ a site (easy)

Not all Bitcoin wallets can send/receive them

- Use a fresh wallet - ONLY HOLD ONE ORDINAL PER WALLET You can lose your NFT by spending the sat it’s inscribed on.













More Details:

- Fees are paid with BTC - There is no marketplace to buy/sell (yet) - Don’t use Coinbase, Binance, or a Ledger


Sparrow wallet is a good choice (because you can create a tap root wallet)




Bitcoin NFTs are known as Inscriptions. Every TX is considered an inscription & there are currently around 20K. Early inscriptions below 10K are priceless. Unfortunately, there's no marketplace to trade these NFTs, but don't worry! You can still buy them OTC




HERE'S HOW:



Warning: Sparrow is only for receiving transactions. Sending transactions may cause loss of access to your Inscriptions (NFTs).




Get the Sparrow Wallet from the releases page for your PC's operating system. sparrowwallet.com/download/ 1. Go to File -> New Wallet and create a wallet named "ord."





2. In the Script Type, switch to Taproot (P2TR). 3. Choose the option for New or Imported Software Wallet.












4. Choose the option for "Use 12 Words." 5. Hit the "Generate New" button, leaving the passphrase blank.




You will be given a new 12-word BIP39 seed phrase. Save and protect it like any seed phrase. Write it down and then: 6. Confirm Backup. 7. Enter the seed phrase again. 8.Choose "Create Keystore." 9. Select "Import Keystore."


10. Click "Apply" and add a password if desired. Your wallet is now ready to use. To receive NFTs, go to the "Receive" tab. For each new NFT, use a unique address by clicking "Get Next Address."






You can organize your addresses by assigning labels to each one for better tracking.






Upon receiving an NFT, a new transaction will appear in the "Transactions" section.






Got your Sparrow wallet ready? Now, it's time to buy some NFTs OTC on Discord. Just make sure to double-check that the servers and people you're interacting with are legit. You can pay in either BTC or ETH.






You can’t sell, transfer, or trade an ordinal unless you are running a Bitcoin Node on your computer.

Once you download a node, you need to sync with the blockchain. HEADS UP: Syncing takes about 1 to 3 days.

Download Bitcoin Core (a node) here: bitcoin.org



Once you download & sync Bitcoin Core, you’ll need to set up your wallet.







Here’s the easy way, but you can't sell or transfer:
Two websites will do everything for you. Cost: $10-$150 per
Fees vary based on transaction speed.



2. gamma.io/ordinals (Cost: $25; Time spent: 3 hrs)



Just upload an image to their site, pay the fee, and they’ll send it to you







Do it yourself (Hard mode)
Complete walkthrough to inscribe an Ordinal: https://docs.ordinals.com/guides/inscriptions.html



1. Download, sync and run Bitcoin Core (the node)


2. In Bitcoin Core command line:
Install ord utility:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fsLS (ordinals.com/install.sh) | bash -s


3. Run:
ord --version



4. Create new wallet named (in core):
command line: ord wallet create

5. Create a wallet address, copy that, and send yourself some Sats (to convert into Ordinals with inscription). Need to have enough to cover fees + the Sats themselves.
command line:
ord wallet receive


6. Create inscription:
Add image file (under 50kb) into FILE (in your root bitcoin folder) With Taproot, a block can now hold up to 4mb. But that size would be overkill (and very expensive).
command line: ord wallet inscribe FILE


7. Congrats you just minted (inscribed) your first Ordinal! DO NOT REPEAT THIS PROCESS IN THE SAME WALLET. You could accidentally spend your inscribed sat (while attempting to create another one.) Make a fresh Taproot wallet to repeat the process.


You can view all inscriptions here: https://ordinals.com/inscriptions



Remember you cant sell / flip these unless you run a full node on your computer.


If you want to buy an Ordinal, it can only be done OTC (transferred from another person).

PLEASE BE SAFE DYOR - USE A MIDDLE MAN - DONT SEND BTC BLINDLY - NEVER GIVE YOUR KEYS OUT - RESEARCH PRICES - USE A TAPROOT WALLET





FURTHER REFERENCE:

A guide to buying Ordinal NFTs for Ethereum people who are Bitcoin-curious

How to put a Ordinal in a EmblemVault sending from a Sparrow Wallet

Bitcoin NFTs: What You Should Know

How-to verify Ordinals in an EmblemVault?

11 misconceptions about ordinals and inscriptions

Bitcoin NFTs Are Pumping. Here's How They Work



credit: Evan Luthra & Maker Lee



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