Casey Rodarmor: The Visionary Behind Bitcoin Ordinals and CoinDesk’s Most Influential Person of 2023
by Dr. Steven Brule 
In the constantly evolving world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, few innovations have sparked as much interest and debate as Bitcoin Ordinals. At the heart of this transformative concept is Casey Rodarmor, a former Bitcoin developer and artist, who has been named the most influential person of 2023 by CoinDesk for his groundbreaking work on the Ordinal Theory.
The Genesis of Ordinals
Inspired by the NFT craze on Ethereum in 2021, Rodarmor inscribed the first Bitcoin Ordinal in December 2022, a simple black-and-white pixel artwork of a skull, embedded on the Bitcoin blockchain using Taproot. This marked the beginning of what would become a major shift in the Bitcoin ecosystem. In January 2023, Rodarmor released the Ordinal Theory Handbook, a guide to building NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain, setting the stage for widespread adoption of this new concept.
The Essence of Bitcoin Ordinals
Rodarmor’s Ordinals framework indexes and tracks each satoshi, the smallest unit of bitcoin, on the blockchain. His method allows for the insertion of various media types like text, video, or jpegs into these satoshis, creating ‘Bitcoin-native digital artifacts.’ These inscribed satoshis, with their unique identifiers, possess NFT-like properties, making them non-fungible and transferable within Bitcoin wallets. This innovation did not require a new sidechain, token, or a drastic Bitcoin improvement proposal (BIP), instead leveraging the existing features of the Bitcoin protocol, enhanced by the SegWit and Taproot upgrades.
Impact and Popularity
Rodarmor’s work quickly captivated the NFT community due to its simplicity and accessibility. The Ordinals concept swept through the community, adding a new dimension to Bitcoin and expanding its use cases beyond just financial transactions. This new approach to NFTs on Bitcoin has not only garnered attention but also sparked debates and discussions within the crypto community, underlining the significance of Rodarmor’s contribution.
BRC-20 and BRC-721: Expanding the Ecosystem
Building on the success of Ordinals, the Bitcoin ecosystem has seen the development of BRC-20 tokens, an experiment by an on-chain analyst named Domo, which demonstrates the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain using the Ordinals protocol. Inspired by Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard, BRC-20 aims to provide a similar functionality for Bitcoin, with core features including token deployment, minting, and transfer.
Additionally, the BRC-721 proposal, also known as the Ordinals Collection Protocol, is under development to address challenges in standardizing collection creation and verification within the Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem. BRC-721 is inspired by Ethereum’s ERC-721 standard for NFTs and aims to provide a decentralized method for creating and verifying collections.
Wrapping Up The Vision
Casey Rodarmor’s introduction of Ordinals to the Bitcoin blockchain represents a significant milestone in the evolution of digital assets. His innovative approach has not only enhanced the functionality and utility of Bitcoin but also fostered a new wave of creativity and development within the crypto space. As CoinDesk’s most influential person of 2023, Rodarmor’s impact on the cryptocurrency world is undeniable, paving the way for a more diverse and dynamic digital asset ecosystem.
Disclaimer: The above article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The cryptocurrency market is volatile and unpredictable; always conduct your research before investing.
