According to Decrypt, the price of ORDI, the most valuable token minted using the Bitcoin BRC-20 standard, reached a new all-time high of $81.96 on Friday. Although it has since experienced an 11% sell-off and is now trading at $73.92, it remains one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies over the past week, with a seven-day spike of 45%. The token's success reflects the continued interest in Ordinals, NFT-style inscriptions on the Bitcoin network. The Ordinals protocol was adapted to power fungible tokens via the BRC-20 standard, enabling a wave of tokens, including meme coins. ORDI was the first one minted and has a market cap of $1.55 billion, making it the largest token on Bitcoin.
Demand for ORDI is primarily speculative, but the asset also demonstrates how Bitcoin's network can be used for minting digital tokens, similar to other major blockchains. However, the Ordinals and BRC-20 craze has led to increased Bitcoin transaction fees. The average cost to send Bitcoin currently stands at $24.10, according to Bitinfocharts data. This is due to more people using the Bitcoin blockchain for Ordinals-related transactions, causing network congestion and higher costs. Some in the Bitcoin community argue that Ordinals are 'spam' and prevent people from using Bitcoin for cash transfers. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's price has fallen slightly, down 1% to $41,985.
