Litecoin is rising, days after plunging to fresh Q2 2024 lows of around $70 in June. At the back of this resurgence is the surge in Ordinal inscriptions.
Over 25 Million Ordinals Inscribed On Litecoin
According to Litecoin, over 25 million ordinals have been inscribed on the proof-of-work network as of June 27. Of note, a record-breaking 1.5 million were added in just two weeks, a massive development and a shot in the arm for the proof-of-work network.
Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, where fees are relatively high, transacting on Litecoin is cheaper. The low fee could be due to the lower transaction activity and better scalability, unlike the world’s most valuable coin.
According to BitInfoCharts, the average transaction fee on the Litecoin network as of June 28 stood at $0.0037. Interestingly, this has been steady over the last few months despite the launch of Ordinals in early 2023.
Therefore, the rising number of ordinals on one of the earliest networks indicates its resilience. This is because fees remain low, and more items and transactions can be readily managed.
Besides demonstrating the network’s capacity, the Ordinal boom reflects the growing interest and potential for broader adoption. In early June, there was a 75% increase in active addresses and a spike in transactions, rising by 426,000. This surge propelled activity to the highest level in six months, surpassing activity on Ethereum, the most active platform.
Since Litecoin is a Bitcoin fork, inscriptions work on the same. They leverage their capabilities to immutably and transparently store arbitrary data, including texts and images. Because all inscriptions are stored on-chain, other users can confirm their authenticity and even provenance.
Picking Up From Bitcoin Success, Miners Benefit
The success of Ordinal inscriptions on the Bitcoin network paved the way for launching similar tools on Litecoin and Dogecoin. Anthony Guerrera deployed it on Litecoin in early 2023, taking advantage of the SegWit and Taproot soft forks, originally launched on Bitcoin.
Even so, ordinals, especially on Bitcoin, have been blamed for spamming the network unnecessarily, leading to higher transaction fees. The launch of the Runes Protocol when Bitcoin Halved on April 20 has pushed fees higher. However, the spike in transaction fees has been a lifeline for miners struggling amid a sharp drop in revenue post-Halving.
Feature image from Canva, chart from TradingView
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