Bitcoin Developer's Controversial NFT Project Generates Almost $1 Billion in Fees
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Casey Rodarmor is a Bitcoin developer who created the Ordinals protocol that allows "NFTs on Bitcoin" - inscriptions of data onto individual satoshis. This has proved controversial.
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Rodarmor was inspired by generative art on Ethereum but wanted to build something similar on Bitcoin. He has a technical background and views coding as an artistic process.
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The Ordinals protocol leverages Bitcoin's Taproot upgrade. Inscriptions generate fees that help fund Bitcoin miners. Over 45 million inscriptions have happened, generating almost $1 billion in fees.
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Rodarmor went quiet over the summer due to the controversy over Ordinals. He has since returned and is working to address issues with the protocol.
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Critics say Ordinals impacts Bitcoin's fungibility and privacy. But Rodarmor views Bitcoin as a "Mad Max" free-for-all where anyone can build if they pay the fees.