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Do you want to become a wizard?
Taproot Wizards, a collection of “Magic Internet JPEGs” inspired by the R/Bitcoin Wizard 2013, keep their very first public sale. This sale finds two years after the wizards were registered as ordinals on Bitcoin. In contrast to traditional NFTs, ordinals are pieces of data or art that are directly linked to Satoshis (SATs), which are 1/100,000,000th of a bitcoin.
2,085 wizards can be purchased from 25 March via the website of the project, with extra honorary wizards that will soon be registered and not included in the sale. The honorary wizards will be given away.
Mincing a taproot wizard costs hopeful collectors 0.2 BTC (about $ 16,000 at the time of writing), although it is worth mentioning that there are discounts for quantum cats holders -another Bitcoin Ordinals collection of the same team.
If you have two “confused” quantum cats – one with the “living” feature and one with the “dead” feature – you can mint a wizard for 0.1 BTC (about $ 7,900). The “confused” mechanic plays the cat of Schrödinger, the famous Quantum Physics Thought experiment where a cat exists in a box in both a living and dead state until it is observed.
The Taproot wizard price reflects their scarcity only 2,121, in contrast to more typical 10,000-part collections. And yes, the price is steep, especially in this market. But with their cult-like supporters it would not surprise me if they were still sold out.
“It has been quite the journey,” said founder of Wizards Udi Wertheimer about the last two years since the project was launched.
The mere existence of ordinals -art on Bitcoin has some Bitcoin -Maximalists dissatisfied, where some calls the blockchain ‘vandalism’.
Instead, fans had to prove their value through various bizarre, yet hily impressions of dedication. According to Wertheimer, some took it to the extreme – showering in full wizard clothing, jumping out of helicopters in swimming pools with robes and pointed hats, or even a car clash with the windows down, robe and all – just to attract the team’s attention.
Unorthodox? Maybe. But enough were willing to embrace the absurdity for a shot to have a piece of Bitcoin history.
“If someone wants a tap great wizard bad enough, they will find a way,” he said.
The Taproot Wizards team, which is currently working with 10 people, actively assumes. Last month they raised $ 30 million in a financing round led by Standard Crypto. They argue for Op_Cat, a proposal that could add more functionality to Bitcoin and be comparable to what the smart contracts of Ethereum offer if it is taken. Originally made by Satoshi Nakamoto, was eliminated on_cat in 2010 due to concern about potential security risks and limited immediate use cases at that time. If it is reintroduced, the Bitcoin scripts would enable it to dynamically manipulate and combine pieces of data, so that the door is opened for more advanced transaction types.
Among other things, possibilities can make covenants possible (rules that limit how BTC can be spent), improved smart contracts and more flexible transaction logic. Although not as complex as the smart contracts of Ethereum, on_cat could expand the possibilities of Bitcoin without jeopardizing security and decentralization-first ethos.
Most wizards are sold via the white list and a few are offered at the Dutch auction. A few more are reserved to be given to users for free, who have proven their interest in and loyalty to the wizards, such as a man who answered on Twitter to ask a wizard for 365 days in a row.
Why did they wait two years before offering the wizards for sale?