What is ORDI Token?

Update 18 Oct 2023 • Reading Time 6 Minute

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to create an alternative decentralized financial system. Satoshi Nakamoto created the Bitcoin network just to fulfill this goal. As such, Bitcoin’s use cases were very limited when compared to other networks such as Solana, Ethereum, or Cardano. However, in early 2023 a group of developers made it possible to create NFTs on the Bitcoin network which sparked various other innovations. One of them is the ORDI token in the BRC-20 token standard. So, what is an ORDI token? How is it created and what are its uses?

Article Summary

🔸 Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency created to facilitate a decentralized financial system. Initially, it was only intended as a network for the transfer of assets.
🧠 The ORDI token is the first BRC-20 token on the Bitcoin network, created by @domodata using the Ordinals protocol.
📈 Although initially just an experiment, BRC-20 tokens like ORDI have gained popularity, with ORDI reaching a market capitalization of $348 million dollars in May 2023.
⚙️ Innovations like the BRC-20 token show that there is still a lot of potential for further exploration and development on the Bitcoin network.

What is the ORDI Token?

ORDI is the first token created using the BRC-20 token standard on the Bitcoin network. The name ORDI refers to Casey Rodarmor’s Ordinals protocol but is not related to it. It is a memecoin created by @domodata as an experiment to create a fungible token using the Ordinals protocol.

ORDI’s popularity spawned many other BRC-20 tokens based on @domodata’s code. In fact, Coingecko now has a category listing BRC-20 tokens.

As the first BRC-20 token, ORDI has the largest market capitalization in the BRC-20 category with $68 million dollars. It even reached a market capitalization of $348 million dollars in May 2023 when several crypto exchanges listed ORDI.

Who is the Creator of BRC-20?

brc-20 creator — The initial tweet from @domodata, BRC-20 creator.

As mentioned, @domodata created the ORDI token as an experiment after seeing the tweets of crypto influencer @redphonecrypto and the Sats Names project. Domo explains that this is just an experiment on how to create fungible tokens on top of Bitcoin. Furthermore, Domo says that the BRC-20 token has no use case and he invites the Bitcoin community to join the experiment.

Domo’s mention that “BRC-20 has no use” seems to have been ignored by the crypto community because the price of DOMO reached $20 dollars. Now, many people are creating more and more BRC-20 using Domo’s method.

How Do ORDI and BRC-20 Tokens Work?

The name BRC-20 follows Ethereum’s ERC-20 fungible token standard. So, Domo creates BRC-20 using the Bitcoin Ordinals Inscription protocol. The Ordinals protocol is a protocol that can insert various kinds of arbitrary data (text, images, etc.) into Bitcoin’s smallest unit of measurement, sats or satoshis. Pintu Academy has an in-depth article on what Ordinals are, how they work, and how you can create your own.

Users can create Inscriptions directly on the Bitcoin network without the use of smart contracts. Each Inscription is attached to a satoshi with a unique ID.

brc-20 popular tokens — Popular BRC-20 tokens. Source: Ordinals Wallets.

Domo inserts a JSON data type (property name format, value, and enclosed in double quotes) in Ordinals to create a BRC-20 token. Once a token has been launched using “deploy”, anyone can mint it by creating new Inscriptions with “mint” or “transfer” instructions.

You can buy BRC-20 tokens directly on crypto exchanges like Pintu or on decentralized marketplaces like Gamma or Ordinals Wallet. However, you will need to use Ordinals Wallet or Unisat Wallet to purchase it. Buying or minting BRC-20 in a decentralized manner also has quite expensive transaction fees.

How to Create BRC-20 Tokens

You need to understand some of the JSON data properties below if you want to create your own BRC-20 token.

Protocol (“p”): This property is always “BRC-20”.
Operation type (“op”): Instructions such as “mint”, “deploy”, or “transfer”.
Token name (“tick”): The BRC-20 token name must consist of four letters such as “ORDI” or “PEPE”.
Maximum supply of tokens (“max”): A number such as “21000000”.
Limit of tokens that can be minted in a single transaction (“lim”): A numeric value such as “1000”. You can also omit this parameter so you can print them all at once.
Number of decimals (“dec”): Generally 18 by default but you can change it.

Another important thing in minting BRC-20 tokens is that you cannot create tokens with the same name. Unlike on Ethereum where token names can be duplicated freely, Ordinals does not allow the same token name. This rule helps prevent fraud.

You can create a BRC-20 token on Unisat’s website which also has a complete procedure.

Potential and Future of ORDI Tokens?

brc-20 token data — BRC-20 statistics. Source: Dune Analytics @cryptokoryo.

Since early 2023, talk about the Bitcoin network has been very hot among the crypto community. The Ordinals protocol opens up the conversation about the possibilities of further development. Domo’s BRC-20 strengthens the argument that innovations are possible on the Bitcoin network.

The data above proves that BRC-20 activity is huge. Currently, the total transactions are 30 million BRC-20 transactions with a total fee of 1,634 BTC. So, this figure exceeds even regular Ordinals transactions.

However, as Domo explains, BRC-20 tokens like ORDI have no function and no utility. They are similar to other memecoins like DOGE and PEPE which rely on social trends and hype. However, like PEPE and DOGE, we don’t know if it will rise hundreds of percent or drop 50% more.

One thing for sure is that a lot of innovation is happening on the Bitcoin blockchain. Users can now trade BRC-20 (as NFTs) on Ethereum NFT sites like OpenSea. New Bitcoin City is an L2 Bitcoin project with SocialFi, GameFi, DeFi, and NFT applications in one platform. Furthermore, the L2 Bitcoin Stacks ecosystem also continues to grow.

If Bitcoin manages to steal the attention of the crypto community again, it is not impossible that ORDI tokens will experience a drastic increase again.

Conclusion

Bitcoin, originally designed as a decentralized financial system, has seen additional innovations in various forms. The Ordinals protocol enabled the creation of NFTs on top of Bitcoin. Then, Ordinals also spawned the innovation of the BRC-20 token standard. ORDI is the first BRC-20 token on the Bitcoin network, created by @domodata as an experiment. Although tokens like ORDI were originally just experiments, their growth and acceptance show the potential for further innovation on the Bitcoin network.

How to Buy Bitcoin on the Pintu App

You can start investing in cryptocurrencies by buying them on the Pintu app. Here is how to buy crypto on Pintu:

Create a Pintu account and follow the process of verifying your identity to start trading.
On the homepage, click the deposit button and top up the Pintu balance using your preferred payment method.
Go to the market page and look for BTC.
Click buy and fill in the amount you want.
Now you are a Bitcoin investor!

In addition, the Pintu application is compatible with various popular digital wallets such as Metamask to facilitate your transactions. Go and download the Pintu cryptocurrency app on the Play Store and App Store! Pintu is regulated and supervised by Bappebti and Kominfo.

You can also learn crypto through the various Pintu Academy articles which are updated every week! All Pintu Academy articles are for educational purposes, not financial advice.