Secrets Revealed: Inside the Runestone Ordinal Awarded to Bitcoin's Creator

The creators of a prominent Bitcoin Ordinals project, Runestone, recently made a significant move by sending the original "parent" inscription to an address associated with Bitcoin's mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. This move effectively sealed off the broader Runestone collection forever.

Leonidas gifts Hua with 8 BTC worth, then playfully 'burns' the inscription

The "parent" inscription, valued at 8 BTC (approximately $525,000), was sent to Satoshi's wallet by project contributor Leonidas. This action, while seemingly irreversible, was later revealed to be a playful gesture, echoing a similar incident in the world of cryptocurrency involving the developer of a Solana meme coin.

In a tweet reminiscent of the Solana developer's message, Leonidas jokingly announced the burning of the inscription, feigning regret over the irreversible action. However, keen observers noted the jest behind the tweet.

Leonidas clarified that the ultimate aim of sending the valuable Ordinals asset to Satoshi's wallet was to effectively "burn" or render the inscription inaccessible, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the collection. With this move, the Runestone collection is now sealed on-chain, limiting the total number of Runestones to 112,384.

Inscriptions Airdrop Sparks Community Enthusiasm, Over 83,000 Wallets Participate, Trading Activity Surges

The process of sending the Runestone to Satoshi's wallet involved collaboration with OrdinalsBot and Marathon Digital Holdings. Despite the complexity, sending the inscription was akin to a regular transaction, thanks to the workings of the Ordinals protocol.

Following the highly anticipated Runestone airdrop, over 83,000 wallets now hold a Runestone inscription. This gesture served as a reward for early believers in the Ordinals movement, emphasizing the community's role in its success.

Post-airdrop, the Runestone collection has seen significant activity, with a current floor price of 0.0526 BTC (approximately $3,445) and a total trading volume of 882 BTC ($57.8 million) on Magic Eden's Bitcoin marketplace.

Behind the scenes, Leonidas highlighted Runestone partner Ordinalsbots, which is working to execute the rest of the massive inscription airdrop. Leonidas also noted that Ordinals marketplaces, including Magic Eden and Ordinalswallet, are working on indexing the Runestone inscriptions so that they can be traded on the secondary market.

Earlier this month, The Runestone, the largest ordinal inscription by block size at 3.97 MB, went up for auction. The winning bid for The Runestone, inscription 63,140,674, was 8 BTC, or around $572,973.