Today's date: December 14, 2024

The First Ordinal Inscription on the Bitcoin Blockchain
Created 2 years ago (December 14, 2022, 08:32:00 PM UTC)

On December 14, 2022, at 8:32 PM UTC, Casey Rodarmor created the first-ever Ordinal inscription, known as Inscription #0, in block 767,430. 
This inscription features a pixel art design of a black-and-white skull and is permanently etched into the Bitcoin blockchain.

Transaction link: https://mempool.space/tx/6fb976ab49dcec017f1e201e84395983204ae1a7c2abf7ced0a85d692e442799

Creator's site: https://rodarmor.com/blog/

Creator's X profile: https://x.com/rodarmor



" Introduction:

Satoshis, not Bitcoin, are the atomic, native currency of the Bitcoin network. One Bitcoin can be 
subdivided into 100,000,000 satoshis, but no further. Ordinal theory does not require a sidechain or 
token aside from Bitcoin, and can be used without any changes to the Bitcoin network. It works right 
now. Ordinal theory imbues satoshis with numismatic value, allowing them to be collected and 
traded as curios. Individual satoshis can be inscribed with arbitrary content, creating unique Bitcoin-native 
digital artifacts that can be held in Bitcoin wallets and transferred using Bitcoin transactions. 
Inscriptions are as durable, immutable, secure, and decentralized as Bitcoin itself.¹

Inscriptions:

Inscriptions inscribe sats with arbitrary content, creating bitcoin-native digital artifacts, more 
commonly known as NFTs. Inscriptions do not require a sidechain or separate token.These inscribed 
sats can then be transferred using bitcoin transactions, sent to bitcoin addresses, and held in bitcoin 
UTXOs. These transactions, addresses, and UTXOs are normal bitcoin transactions, addresses, and 
UTXOS in all respects, with the exception that in order to send individual sats, transactions must 
control the order and value of inputs and outputs according to ordinal theory.

Inscription content is entirely on-chain, stored in taproot script-path spend scripts. Taproot scripts 
have very few restrictions on their content, and additionally receive the witness discount, making 
inscription content storage relatively economical. ¹



Ordinal Theory Overview:

Ordinals are a numbering scheme for satoshis that allows tracking and transferring individual sats. 
These numbers are called ordinal numbers. Satoshis are numbered in the order in which they're 
mined, and transferred from transaction inputs to transaction outputs first-in-first-out. Both the 
numbering scheme and the transfer scheme rely on order, the numbering scheme on the order in 
which satoshis are mined, and the transfer scheme on the order of transaction inputs and outputs.  
Thus the name, ordinals.

Ordinal theory does not require a separate token, another blockchain, or any changes to Bitcoin. It 
works right now. ¹ "


Citations:
1.Ordinals, "Ordinal Theory Documentation," Ordinals, https://docs.ordinals.com.