Watch out, Ordinals! A new protocol called “Ethscriptions” has recently landed on Ethereum, offering users another way to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other digital assets on the blockchain. Inspired by Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions, Ethscriptions already had nearly 30,000 assets created within the first 18 hours of its launch on June 17.
Developed by Genius.com co-founder Tom Lehman, who goes by the pseudonym Middlemarch on Twitter, Ethscriptions utilizes Ethereum’s “calldata” — the data within a smart contract — to enable a more affordable and decentralized minting process when compared to conventional smart contract-based methods. Currently, users can only ethscribe image-only inscriptions, but Lehman anticipates allowing different file types in the future.
On one hand, Lehman’s debut project on the Ethscriptions protocol, named “Ethereum Punks,” saw a highly positive response from the community, with all 10,000 assets being claimed almost instantly upon launch. However, it remains uncertain if Ethscriptions will enjoy the same level of popularity as Bitcoin Ordinals. In under six months, the total number of Ordinals inscribed on Bitcoin went from zero to ten million, largely due to users’ excitement over minting new assets through the BRC-20 token standard on the Bitcoin network.
The potential advantages of Ethscriptions include cheaper and more decentralized minting of assets, and the ability to work with different file types in the future. However, given the existing infrastructure for creating NFTs and other digital assets on the Ethereum network, Ethscriptions may not enjoy the same rapid surge in popularity as Bitcoin Ordinals. Additionally, the project’s launch did cause the API interface for the official Ethscriptions website to temporarily crash, indicating potential scalability challenges that could hinder its growth.
In conclusion, Ethscriptions presents an alternative approach to asset creation within the Ethereum network that has the potential to offer cost and decentralization benefits in comparison to traditional smart contract-based methods. While the project has seen initial success, it remains to be seen if it can gain the same level of adoption and widespread use as its Bitcoin Ordinals counterpart. Nonetheless, as the space continues to evolve, the emergence of new protocols like Ethscriptions adds greater diversity and innovation within the market, offering users more options and flexibility when it comes to creating and managing digital assets.
Source: Cointelegraph
