Todays Top Stories

Editor: @PhoenixxDown

Ordinals vs. Runes: A Divided Bitcoin Ecosystem Reaches Boiling Point

Oh dear, it’s all kicking off again. The Bitcoin ecosystem has endured plenty of attacks from maxis of other chains, but now we’re back to the Ordinals vs. Runes war being reignited.

It all started on Magic Eden’s X Space, which was hosted to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Ordinals protocol going live. It was there that 0wl, founder of Inscribed Pepes and an OG ExtraOrdinal, laid into Runes. Frustrated by the progress Runes has made since launching nine months ago, 0wl took to X afterward to continue the onslaught.

0wl’s main points were that Runes cannot compare to the ease of use, trading experience, liquidity, and attention seen on Solana. 0wl says that since Trump dropped his memecoin, the landscape has shifted, and will leave assets like Runes behind. He announced plans to focus more on Solana and art on Ordinals instead.

Divided Reactions

The response was swift. Some backed 0wl, while others pushed back. Trevor.btc, founder of Pizza Ninjas, gave a balanced view:

“There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with Runes. It’s a new protocol, so there are no CEX integrations, and liquidity is low. This will quickly change.”

Sanj, often the voice of reason in these debates, mostly agreed with 0wl but pointed out key differences:

“Ordinals are the ultimate form of non-fungible collectibles… They make more sense for long-term value, especially for artwork. Runes, on the other hand, were never meant to compete on the same level.”

He argued that while Runes may lack the sophistication and cultural permanence of Ordinals, they’re perfect for speculative trading on Bitcoin. "Runes are far better than BRC-20 and ideal for degens who want to gamble on Bitcoin. But Ordinals will remain the crown jewel for Bitcoin collecting."

Criticism of Ordinals

0wl made further points for his preference of Ordinals over Runes, saying he is disillusioned with the logic that brought him to be bullish on them initially. 0wl is certainly not alone, and this is a sentiment shared by many as time has gone on since the summer of 2024:

Shin, in response, raised concerns about the sustainability of the art and collectible market on Bitcoin.

“Art on BTC is cool, but let’s be real—it feels like the BTC space is using it as a sophisticated way to grift,”

Shin pointed to high mint prices, derivative projects, and lack of innovation as signs that Ordinals might be stagnating. He questioned whether Ponzi-style collections were doing more harm than good.

Shin took his turn to state a belief that is shared by many others: “I personally don't care about art and think the majority of the space neither - the goal is to make money and not build an on-chain museum for most.”

As the debate rages on, it’s clear both Ordinals and Runes have their strengths. Ordinals seem poised to dominate non-fungible spaces, particularly for art and collectibles, while Runes cater to speculative traders.

The real question: Will these factions work together to grow Bitcoin’s digital economy, or will infighting hold the space back? As Leonidas said:

“Liquidity will flow into this ecosystem again, and the attention of the crypto space will shift to us. But that will only happen if we work together and grow the pie for everyone.”

And remember, buying and selling Runes is easy with Xverse. Don’t be psyop’d into thinking otherwise!

We can onboard more people into Runes by showing how easy it is to use—like the example below—as many outsiders still mistakenly think the technology is stuck in a 2023 level of difficulty, likely influenced by their experiences with BRC-20s.

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Todays Markets

Catch up with Landy in yesterdays Wednesday Check-In:

Ordinals

Commander Doug is up 85% since yesterday, with sentiment continuing to grow around the collection. Yesterday, Dougs were priced around $25, but now they’re sitting at $45 each. Recently, we saw Frugs jump from similar levels to a local peak of about $300. Could we see the same happen here in the coming days?

It’s totally possible—but only if sellers take a break from slamming the sell button. The rest of the top 5 are down massively on the day, showing how heavy selling pressure is affecting the market.

Bitcoin Puppets, NodeMonkes, and OMB all seem to be sitting at bargain basement prices right now, tempting potential buyers.

Unsanctioned Wizards, however, are recovering and up 41% today. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for others. Based Angels and NatCats are both under 0.01 BTC—great candidates for undervalued collections that will surely do well over time.

Pizza Ninjas, which have been priced much higher in the past, also have plenty of room to grow from here. On top of that, quite a bit of quality content on my TL has been from Pizza Ninja PFPs lately—seems like a switched-on, big-brained bunch Trevor has drawn in over there.

Runes

Runes are experiencing similar percentage drops in value to Ordinals, suggesting that the two ecosystems may have more in common than the arguments made in the headline story would suggest.

At the moment, everything is down, leaving little to analyze.

The bottom half of the market looks slightly better, though, with $BIP making a welcome return to the top 10 after a lengthy absence. Based Internet Panda is one of the Runes we’ve highlighted before as an OG, hardworking community that has weathered multiple bear markets (including this one we currently find ourselves in). These projects, like $SAIKO also, are battle-tested cults that refuse to die, offering potential outsized returns when market conditions improve.

$MORI also sees a gain today, making it one of the only other Runes in the green.

Todays Opportunities

Giveaways

There are currently no raffles taking place today, but check back tomorrow for what’s next so you don’t miss out.