Ordinals
token · data
Ordinals assign serial numbers to satoshis and use inscriptions to associate on-chain data with specific sats.
Ordinals are a Bitcoin convention for numbering individual satoshis and tracking them through transactions. Inscriptions attach data to a satoshi, creating NFT-like artifacts without requiring a separate token contract.
Ordinals rely on wallet and indexer conventions rather than changing Bitcoin consensus rules. Heavy inscription activity can increase block space demand and fees, and the convention is not automatically portable to every Bitcoin-family chain.
Related terms
Non-Fungible Token (NFT)
→A token unit whose identifier, commitment, or contract state makes it distinguishable from other units.
token · asset
Block
→A batch of valid transactions added to a blockchain, linked to the previous block by a cryptographic hash.
mining · blockchain · security
Fee
→Value paid under network rules or policy to submit, execute, relay, or include a blockchain transaction.
blockchain · economics
Mempool
→A node's local set of unconfirmed transactions accepted for possible relay and block inclusion.
blockchain · node