Ethereum was watching the success of Bitcoin and decided not to hesitate but quickly test new solutions. A protocol called Ethscriptions has been recently launched by Ethereum, enabling users to inscribe images on the Ethereum blockchain. The feature, heavily inspired by the Bitcoin Ordinals NFTs, has garnered massive attention from users since its debut.
Ethscriptions, also known as Ethereum Ordinals, are designed as a new way of sending digital art using a feature called “transaction callback.” It was launched on June 16th by the co-founder of the media company Genius, Tom Lehman aka Middlemarch. Stressing the decentralized feature of the Ethscriptions, Lehman tweeted:
“One of the big things that makes Ethscriptions (like Ordinals) special is that it is a protocol that avoids expensive contract storage and execution without centralization. This is because every Ethscriptions user, including me, has the same knowledge and power: we all know the protocol's rules, and we can all trustlessly apply them by reading and writing to Ethereum.”
While unveiling Ethscriptions, Lehman also revealed Ethereum Punks, a 10K-piece NFT collection of non-contract punks inscribed on the Ethereum mainnet. According to the official website, the collection was quickly minted. A day after the launch of the inscription protocol, Lehman tweeted that nearly 30,000 Ethscriptions were created by users, showing the wide adoption of the innovation.
Notwithstanding, the introduction of Ethscriptions to the Ethereum blockchain will likely lead to network congestion due to increased usage. This often leads to a surge in trading fees, as is currently the case on the Bitcoin network since the unveiling of the Bitcoin Ordinals.
Last month, a Bitcoin-based NFT project surpassed the blue-chip Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) in trading volume. Looking on the bright side, Ethscriptions are sure to fortify Ethereum’s position as the leading blockchain holding the largest number of NFT projects.
As Ethscriptions are still a new solution, be sure to embrace the nascent initiative before it explodes in the realm.