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An unidentified Bitcoin (BTC) user has invested approximately $64,000 in fees to inscribe nearly 9 megabytes of raw binary data on the Bitcoin blockchain.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) from the Ordinals explorer Ord.io on January 7, more than 1 Bitcoin was utilized to create 332 inscriptions at around 11:20 am UTC on January 6.
BREAKING: Someone just spent >1 BTC to inscribe 8.93 MB of raw binary data into Bitcoin.
Can anybody decode it to find out what it is?
→ https://t.co/PAaKCWVDus pic.twitter.com/wIpOsgwmhF
— Ord.io (@ord_io) January 6, 2024
These inscriptions consist of raw binary data, but the content and purpose of the data remain a mystery.
Despite attempts to decode it using OpenAI’s ChatGPT, no conclusive answers have been found.
Leonidas, host of The Ordinal Show, commented on the situation, stating that some individuals speculate that the data may be encrypted, making it extremely difficult or even impossible to decrypt.
In addition to the enigmatic nature of the data, the identity of the individual behind the inscription is also unknown.
The Bitcoin address associated with the mysterious spree of inscriptions, “bc1pnp…zwd0th,” is simply labeled “Unnamed” on Ord.io.
The encrypted data includes a range of symbols from various languages, including English, Greek, and mathematical symbols.
Interestingly, two of the 332 inscriptions feature a digital image of a pepperoni pizza.
Ord.io explained that this signifies the inclusion of “sats” from the 10,000 BTC used to purchase two Papa John’s pepperoni pizzas from Early Bitcoin contributor Laszlo Hanyecz on May 22, 2010.
The recent inscription mystery follows closely on the heels of another intriguing Bitcoin transaction.
Bitcoin’s First Wallet Comes to Live
On January 5, an astonishing 26.9 BTC, valued at $1.17 million, was sent to Bitcoin’s Genesis wallet—the very first Bitcoin wallet ever created. This event generated various theories from industry experts.
The transaction fee attached to it was $100, which is notably higher than the average transaction fee.
The wallet’s initial funding can be traced back to three wallets, with most of the funds originating from a wallet associated with Binance on the blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.
Conor Grogan, a director at Coinbase, speculated whether Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, had “woke up” and transferred the Bitcoin from Binance, or if someone had simply “burned a million dollars.”
Pro-XRP lawyer Jeremy Hogan raised the possibility that the transaction was an attempt to flush out Nakamoto, potentially forcing them to report the funds to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or face legal consequences.
However, it is worth noting that this theory would only hold if Nakamoto were subject to U.S. tax laws.
Bitcoin Blockchain Sets New Record
Sales of NFTs on the Bitcoin network reached a new milestone in December 2023, surpassing $881 million for the first time ever.
According to data by CryptoSlam, NFT sales on the Bitcoin chain reached $881,223,753.92 last month, setting the highest single-month sales record to date.
This included 111,713 buyer addresses and 98,744 seller addresses, both setting the highest single-month records to date.
Bitcoin NFTs, also known as Ordinals, are a new type of NFT that exists on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Unlike traditional NFTs which are mostly associated with the Ethereum blockchain, Bitcoin NFTs are unique in that they are inscribed directly onto individual satoshis, the smallest unit of a bitcoin.
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