Casey Rodarmor: Making Bitcoin Fun Again With Ordinal NFTs

• Casey Rodarmor is the creator of Ordinals Bitcoin NFT project and a co-host of SF Bitcoin BitDevs.
• The Ordinal protocol developed by Rodarmor enables the creation, buying and selling of digital assets powered by its XCP token.
• Rodarmor’s dedication to testing out new Bitcoin ideas is evident in his work with Bitcoin BitDevs, which is key to the grassroots culture of Bitcoin.

Casey Rodarmor: The Quest to Make Bitcoin Fun Again

In a CoinDesk interview for Buidl Week, the creator of Ordinals Bitcoin NFT project breaks down his inspiration and how he views the backlash from some Bitcoiners against the protocol.

Bitcoin Trying Out Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT)

Bitcoin is attempting to use non-fungible tokens (NFT) again. First there were colored coins in 2012, which were aimed at representing all types of non-bitcoin assets on Bitcoin. Then came Counterparty in 2014, which was built as a derivative of Bitcoin and allowed for creating, buying and selling digital assets powered by its XCP token. Counterparty spawned „Rare Pepes“ – NFTs inspired by Pepe the Frog meme – back in 2016.

Introducing Casey Rodarmor

Casey Rodarmor has been working in technology since 2010. He has experience with Google and Chaincode Labs working on nominal projects regarding Bitcoin Core code implementation. He now serves as co-host for SF Bitcoin BitDevs after taking over from River Financial founder Alexander Leishman last year.

Ordinal Protocol

Rodarmor’s current focus lies in developing Ordinals NFTs and inscriptions via his Ordinal protocol. This allows users to create, buy, sell digital assets using its XCP token.

Commitment To Testing New Ideas

Rodarmor’s commitment towards testing new ideas found within the realm of bitcoin is evident through his work with bitcoin bitdevs – an important part of bitcoin’s grassroots culture.

Rarible Expands Aggregation to Tezos: Support for Crypto-Native Artists

• Rarible has added Tezos integration to its NFT marketplace aggregator tool.
• The addition of Tezos follows the recent announcement that Rarible would begin aggregating Polygon-based listings.
• Tezos is favored by crypto-native artists and collectors for its eco-friendly properties.

Rarible Expands Aggregation to Support Tezos

Rarible, an NFT marketplace, announced Thursday that it will be integrating support for Tezos on its aggregated marketplace. This follows the recent announcement that Rarible would begin aggregating Polygon-based listings. Alexander Salnikov, co-founder of Rarible, said they chose to integrate Tezos marketplaces into their aggregation tool in an effort to court crypto-native artists and collectors who favor sustainability.

What Does This Mean For Collectors?

Collectors on Rarible will now have access to purchase Tezos-based NFTs from marketplaces such as Objkt, fxhash, Teia and Versum. The company also noted that all Tezos marketplaces honor creator royalties – a feature which Rarible also supports – creating an attractive environment for creators on the platform.

Rarible’s Toolkit for Creators

Rarible has been building out its toolkit for creators over the past several months. In October 2022, they launched their aggregator tool which pulls NFT listings from competitor marketplaces and bolsters collectors‘ access; then in January 2021 they deployed their royalty program allowing users to collect a portion of every resale when buyers purchase their work via the platform.

Popularity of Polygon

The integration of support for Polygon tokens is likely due to large companies like Starbucks planning to deploy Web3 initiatives on this blockchain network; leading many enthusiasts to believe it’s heading towards mainstream adoption soon enough.

Conclusion

These integrations with both Polygon and Tezos demonstrate how serious Rarile is about supporting creators as well as collectors who favor these eco-friendly networks; giving them more options when it comes time to buy or sell NFTs through the platform.

NFTs on Bitcoin Explode in Popularity: 13,000 Ordinals Minted

• BitMEX Research has identified over 13,000 Ordinals NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain.
• The sudden influx of JPEGs and other media files onto Bitcoin has consumed 526 megabytes (MB) of block space and cost creators 6.77 bitcoin (roughly $155,000).
• Critics have accused the Ordinals crowd of „spamming“ the most dominant blockchain with oversized JPEGs.

Explosion in Popularity for Bitcoin NFTs

Interest has skyrocketed following the first Ordinals transaction on Dec. 14 as crypto derivatives firm BitMEX released a blog post showing that 13,000 Ordinals were minted or „inscribed“ between their debut and Feb. 7. The total number of Ordinals transactions to date shows a steep „hockey stick“ curve, indicating NFT activity on Bitcoin has gone exponential.

Cost of Transaction

The sudden influx of JPEGs and other media files onto Bitcoin has consumed 526 megabytes (MB) of block space and cost creators 6.77 bitcoin (roughly $155,000 at the time of publication), according to the post.

Controversy Surrounding Transactions

The surging popularity of Ordinals has drawn the ire of prominent Bitcoiners such as Rene Pickhardt, who accused the Ordinals crowd of „spamming“ the most dominant blockchain with oversized JPEGs. When plotted out graphically, critics like Pickhardt have some data to back their view: Ordinals‘ share of total Bitcoin transactions barely cracked the 3% mark on Wednesday yet they consumed nearly 70%of blockspace.

Bitcoin Solutions

Solutions such as creating a Lightning Network in order to prevent these types from ’spamming‘ are being proposed by some members in order to provide more efficient ways for individuals to use Bitcoin’s block space without wasting it unnecessarily..

Future Prospects

Despite criticism, interest in NFTs is only continuing to grow which could open up new opportunities for artists and innovators looking to use this technology for creative projects or business ventures in the future.

DeFi Platform Archimedes Raises $4.9M in Seed Round

• Archimedes, a decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and borrowing marketplace that is launching this month, secured another round of funding.
• The seed-funding round of $4.9 million was led by Hack VC and included other backers such as Uncorrelated Venture, Psalion, Truffle Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, Haven VC and Palsar.
• Archimedes’ mission is to make capital efficient DeFi opportunities more accessible by offering users leverage that multiplies their original yield opportunity.

Archimedes Raises $4.9M in Seed Round

DeFi lending and borrowing platform Archimedes recently closed a seed-funding round of $4.9 million led by Hack VC. This adds to the pre-seed funding of $2.4 million for a total of $7.3 million in pre-launch fundraising from various investors including Uncorrelated Venture, Psalion, Truffle Ventures, Cogitent Ventures, Haven VC and Palsar.

Launching This Month

The decentralized finance marketplace is set to launch this month with an aim to make capital efficient DeFi opportunities more accessible for users through leverage which multiplies their original yield opportunity. Upon taking out a loan on the platform users are sent a non-fungible token (NFT) representing a yield-generating stablecoin position leveraged up to 10 times the principal collateral amount.

What Is DeFi?

DeFi stands for „decentralized finance“ and refers to financial activities carried out on a blockchain such as lending or trading digital assets or currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum respectively. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are digital assets recorded on the blockchain that represent ownership of virtual or physical items which can be sold or traded as well as used in games like CryptoKitties and CryptoPunks among others.

Mission To Make Capital Efficient DeFI Opportunities More Accessible

Archimedes‘ mission is to provide users with easier access to capital efficient DeFI opportunities through leveraging their original yield opportunity up to 10 times the principal collateral amount upon taking out a loan on its platform represented via an NFT asset issued by the company itself when repayment begins.

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