Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards saw a strong turnout on Monday for its inaugural “Quantum Cats” digital art sale, despite serious technical issues that delayed the planned coin three times last week.
With almost two hours left for whitelisted buyers to claim the NFT-like collectibles, at least 2,570 of the batch of 3,000 had been claimed, at a fixed price of 0.1 BTC ($4,274 each) – for a total revenue of approximately $11 million.
Such returns would already exceed the $7.5 million Taproot Wizards raised from investors last year amid a wave of enthusiasm for the Ordinals inscriptions, also known as “NFTs on Bitcoin.” A public sale for the remaining items is still planned for later Monday, after the whitelist period ends.
The Quantum Cats sale kicked off last Monday, but was paused due to technical issues that prevented buyers from completing their purchases. This caused frustration and led to widespread complaints on a Discord channel for the project.
Taproot Wizards officials, led by co-founders Udi Wertheimer and Eric Wall, postponed the coin’s resumption two more times, saying that despite resolving the issues, more time was needed for additional testing.
“We knew demand was high,” Wertheimer told CoinDesk in a Telegram chat on Monday. “We’re pleased to be able to provide a smooth experience for our community today.”
He said the Quantum Cats allocated to whitelisted buyers were almost sold out. He declined to give a specific figure, but noted that there would be “some spots for the open public coin,” which is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET.
The Ordinals protocol and its “inscriptions” – launched in early 2023 by creator Casey Rodarmor – effectively allow NFTs to be minted and stored on the Bitcoin blockchain.
While the Bitcoin community is somewhat divided over the potential impact of surging coin activity, which has sometimes caused network congestion and driven up fees, many crypto experts argue that the trend has injected renewed energy into the pace of development in the Bitcoin market. oldest original blockchain.
Read more: Casey Rodarmor: The Bitcoin Artist