Ordinals
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
4 linkedExplore connected entries beyond the alphabetical index.
Non-fungible Token (NFT)
→A non-fungible token is a unique on-chain token representing a distinct asset, right, identity, or collectible.
Block
→A batch of valid transactions added to a blockchain, linked to the previous block by a cryptographic hash.
Fee
→A transaction fee is the amount paid for block inclusion, compensating block producers and discouraging spam.
Mempool
→A temporary storage space in a node for pending transactions that have not yet been included in a confirmed block.
All terms and definitions may update as the Cryptionary improves.
