The creator of Bitcoin Ordinals proposed to change the written number system

Casey Rodermore, creator and lead coder of Bitcoin Ordinals, recently proposed changing the protocol's numbering system to simplify the project's codebase.

Since the inception of the Ordinals protocol, each NFT created using ordinals has been assigned a unique NFT number. They functioned similarly to serial numbers and were an integral part of the digital art embodied in the protocol.

I guess the cat is out of the bag! In short, I think the effort to keep coded numbers stable was futile, and led to ugly code and development, because new changes are too numerous and often have to be incredibly careful not to change old numbers… https://t.co/SsEqjdtZFB

— Casey (@rodarmor) September 19, 2023

However, Rodermore believes that the stabilization of the recorded numbers has resulted in “ugly code and stagnant development”. For this reason, the main coder of the protocol proposed to make the generated numbers “permanently unstable”, which means that the numbering system that assigns unique numbers to the articles created in the Bitcoin network will be revealed in advance.

According to Rodarmore, the move will simplify the protocol's codebase and allow for easier future protocol changes. The code also explained that the engraved numbers will be changed but not completely erased. Rodermore pointed out that the new figures are close to the old ones but may differ by 1%.

While many supported the move, others pointed out how users had already paid high amounts to get certain numbers and that the reordering of numbers would hurt. However, one community member suggested that those concerned about numbering the articles could still sort the collections by timestamp.

RELATED: Despite the price crash, it still includes most Bitcoin txs

Bitcoin Ordinals are artifacts that allow writing to Satoshi, which is the smallest denomination of Bitcoin (BTC). The protocol launched in January 2023, and since then thousands of writes have been recorded on the BTC network. In the year On August 21, the NFT-like protocol accounted for 84.9% of all activity in the Bitcoin network.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this in history and show your support for free journalism in the crypto space.

Magazine: Turns Bitcoin into a Worse Version of Ethereum: Can We Fix It?