Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), unintentionally promoted the potential of Bitcoin Ordinals during an interview on "The Joe Rogan Experience" on Thursday. While expressing his skepticism about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Musk suggested that digital assets should be stored on-chain to avoid loss. His comments echoed the purpose of Bitcoin Ordinals, a protocol introduced by Casey Rodarmor that allows image and text inscriptions directly on the Bitcoin blockchain post-Taproot soft fork. Currently, over 38 million Ordinals inscriptions exist on Bitcoin’s blockchain.
Rohun Vora, creator of DeGods and y00ts NFT projects, endorsed Musk's viewpoint, labeling Ordinals as an optimal solution to common NFT criticism. OnChainMonkeys, an Ethereum-native NFT project, announced plans to shift to Bitcoin due to the superior decentralization and security offered by the Bitcoin Ordinal protocol.
However, it is important to note that not all NFTs are subject to Musk's critique. For instance, Larva Labs moved its CryptoPunks NFTs on-chain in August 2021 for long-term preservation.
Musk's critique of NFTs was centered on the fact that many aren't fully integrated into the blockchain but are merely URLs to external servers hosting digital assets. This setup creates risk exposure and potential asset loss if those hosting companies dissolve. He advocated for JPEG encoding on the blockchain for improved security and digital art safety. His comments sparked a debate within the NFT community with some projects storing their assets on Ethereum's blockchain, while others rely on external servers thereby increasing risk.
In response to Musk's comments, Bitcoin enthusiasts promoted the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, a system that securely inscribes artwork and media onto the Bitcoin blockchain itself. This approach ensures the accessibility of NFTs as long as the Bitcoin network remains operational.
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