BRC-20 tokens surpass $1B market cap as wallet providers prepare integration

On May 9, the total market capitalization of BRC-20 Bitcoin tokens surpassed $1 billion, with a total trading volume of $207.7 million in the past 24 hours. Some of the most notable deployed tokens include ORDI, NALS, VMPX, PEPE and MEME, with price variance of between +11% and -55% within the past day.

According to analysts at multichain wallet BitKeep, the BRC-20 token standard is a novel form of fungible token that “employs Ordinals and Inscriptions to create and manage token contracts, token minting, and token transfers, which are stored on the Bitcoin base chain.” Ordinals is a numbering system that assigns a unique number to each satoshi, or 0.00000001 Bitcoin (BTC), enabling its tracking and transfer. Meanwhile, the “inscription” process adds a layer of data to each satoshi, allowing users to create unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

The BRC-20 token standard was developed by Twitter user Domo on March 8. Currently, there are over 14,000 BRC-20 tokens deployed on Bitcoin compared to an estimated 400 million tokens on Ethereum. Despite its traction, BitKeep researchers wrote, “BRC-20’s creator has openly stated that the standard is worthless and that users should not waste money mass minting this fun experiment.”

gm. I’m glad that some people like the experiment. Some additional notes. 1. These will be worthless. Please do not waste money mass minting. 2. Due to how some inscription tools are set up, the ‘balance’ may be minted to the intermediary address used in https://t.co/mja39YGIow…

— domo (@domodata) March 9, 2023

On May 8, BitKeep announced that it would soon support the ordinals protocol and BRC-20 protocol on its mobile and plugin-extension platforms. A new Bitcoin NFT section will also be included in the BitKeep NFT marketplace, allowing for the display, minting, transfer and trading of BTC NFTs based on the ordinal protocol. Developers wrote:

“BitKeep will continue to monitor new protocols, such as BRC-21, and provide more diverse support and services based on market trends and user demands.”

Despite being enthusiastic about its outlook, Trust Wallet does not support Bitcoin ordinals. Meanwhile, MetaMask added a new feature allowing users to store ordinals in February. Cryptocurrency hardware wallet provider Ledger also supports the ordinals protocol. 

3/4 BitKeep will also be compatible with the #Taproot address format and support the BRC-20 protocol, providing asset display, transfers, and trading services for BRC-20 tokens.

— BitKeep Wallet (@BitKeepOS) May 8, 2023

Magazine: $3.4B of Bitcoin in a popcorn tin: The Silk Road hacker’s story