TL;DR
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From Saturday there will be a new protocol Etscriptions has become available on the Ethereum blockchain.
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While today the protocol only allows for images, users can enroll any type of file less than ~90 kilobytes in size, and other types of data (such as text) will be available soon.
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Users have largely welcomed the new innovation and over 30,000 Ethscriptions have been created in the ~48 hours since launch.
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Chances are, as with the invention of Bitcoin Ordinals, this will spur a slew of developers to use the Ethereum network in new and innovative ways.
Full story
If you’re a bit of a supporter of blockchain technology (like us), then you’re no doubt familiar with the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol.
(The technology that allows people to “subscribe” non-financial data to the Bitcoin blockchain – from images to games and even “Snapchat-style live webcam filters”).
From Saturday there will be a new protocol Etscriptions has become available on the Ethereum blockchain.
This is how it works:
Ethereum is best known for using smart contracts which are sort of automated rulesets (if this happens, do that).
Ethscriptions use Ethereum ‘calldata’, the data provided within a call to a smart contract.
It takes the ‘ruleset’ and lets you send data directly to a wallet with a 0 ETH transaction.
While today the protocol only allows for images, users can enroll any type of file less than ~90 kilobytes in size, and other types of data (such as text) will be available soon.
Here’s why this is important:
When the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol was first launched, it was controversial among BTC maxis.
It slowed down the Bitcoin blockchain and resulted in a sharp increase in transaction fees.
So far, however, the response to Ethscriptions has been dramatically different.
Users have largely welcomed the new innovation and over 30,000 Ethscriptions have been created in the ~48 hours since launch.
This is most likely due to the idea that while the Bitcoin blockchain has always been known for one thing – sending/receiving BTC – image writing isn’t such a crazy use case for Ethereum users.
As the founder of Ethscriptions says, “It’s cheaper and more decentralized than using contract storage.”
Chances are, as with the invention of Bitcoin Ordinals, this will spur a slew of developers to use the Ethereum network in new and innovative ways.
The second-best Web3 consumer use case may not be here yet, but this technology could be the nudge needed to discover it.