Ordinal Derangement Syndrome (ODS) is a real phenomenon. As a neutral observer of Bitcoin Magazine, my goal is to address the misconceptions and dismissive attitudes toward ordinals in the Bitcoin community, thereby revealing the overlooked complexities and potential of what I call “syndrome Ordinal Disturbance” (ODS).
ODS emerges as a significant phenomenon within a segment of the Bitcoin community, characterized by oversimplification and a dismissive attitude towards ordinals, often of a cavalier nature. As an employee of Bitcoin Magazine, who remains neutral towards Ordinals but is tired of baseless criticism aimed not only at our publication but also at Bitcoin innovations in general, I feel obliged to share my perspective. Contrary to some claims, our coverage is not obsessed with Ordinals nor does it provide coverage to an unreasonable extent.
Conversation about ordinals among detractors often boils down to unfounded accusations of scams or memory pool-clogging spam, reflecting a widespread “dumb” mentality among some Bitcoin influencers. These individuals overlook the intricate details of the Ordinals, choosing to exploit the subject for personal gain, such as gaining more followers or improving their online presence. Whether these actions are intentional or not, with deliberate manipulation being particularly egregious, they indicate a superficial engagement with technology. Such behavior ignores the complexity of ordinals, which deserves more detailed and thoughtful analysis, and thus embodies ordinal derangement syndrome (ODS).
It's disappointing to see some of the Bitcoin community engage in such reductive discussions, especially given the thoughtful reasoning that initially attracted many people to Bitcoin. This trend is most evident among those who aligned themselves with Bitcoin circa 2020 – or the fourth epoch class – and whose understanding of Bitcoin is heavily influenced by “The Bitcoin Standard” and the literal interpretation of Satoshi's blog posts on the Bitcoin discussion forum. This approach, similar to the religious fanaticism seen in religious fanaticism, has led to a biased interpretation of Bitcoin maximalism, transforming it into the sole identity of its followers. Sometimes it's almost as if those exposing ODS are secretly or unwittingly supporting Bitcoin Cash (BCash) or Bitcoin SV (BSV), given their behavior.
Some context around my personal beliefs includes:
1. Ordinals (what many refer to as JPEG files on Bitcoin) are stupid.
2. I understand that ordinals have subjective value.
3. Ordinals have resurfaced Bitcoin scaling issues.
4. Bitcoin resists Bitcoiners.
5. Bitcoin is permissionless.
I have never owned, received a gift from, or intended to own an ordinal or inscription.
Contrary to the perception of detractors of Ordinal and Bitcoin Magazine, Ordinals make up a tiny percentage of what Bitcoin Magazine covers. Since the start of the year, Bitcoin Magazine has published 327 articles on its website, with only 5 covering ordinals, which represents approximately 1.5% of our content published this year.
Our website navigation bar includes sections for Articles, PRO (Market Information), Shop, Conference, Mining, Learn, Books and Buy Bitcoin. Notably, ordinals do not have their own dedicated section. Of the 31 print issues published, only one focused on inscriptions.
Our recent print issue, titled “The Inscription Issue,” highlights inscriptions and ordinals as being at the heart of an important cultural issue within the Bitcoin community, hence its name “The Inscription ISSUE.”
Let me highlight some of our recent initiatives that demonstrate our key interests and broader priorities:
- We have partnered with the industry's leading collaborative Bitcoin custody company. This collaboration aims to provide new Bitcoin buyers with the knowledge and tools necessary for self-custody, including setting up a multi-signature solution. More details on: https://unchained.bitcoinmagazine.com/
- Our largest content series includes a collaboration with one of the world's largest hardware wallet providers to promote technical content on self-custody best practices. For example, see “10 Steps to Self-Sovereignty” on https://bitcoinmagazine.com/sponsored/understanding-your-bitcoin-keys-bip39-seed-words
- We also partnered with one of the largest miners to combat mainstream Bitcoin FUD. See “FUD Fighters” on https://bitcoinmagazine.com/sponsored/mining-misinformation-how-the-united-nations-university-misrepresented-data-to-exaggerate-bitcoins-environmental-footprint
Our conference team has expanded our events to Asia and the MENA regions, particularly China and the UAE. Our conferences primarily focus on the economic, energy and open source benefits of Bitcoin, accounting for over 90% of the conference content.
At Bitcoin 2023, our most recent flagship event, Ordinals received minor attention:
- Main stage: Out of 52 talks, only one discussed ordinals (the great ordinal debate), which represents about 1% focus on ordinals.
- Company Stage: Of 16 Pitch Day applicants, 1 company presented on Ordinals (Ordinal Safe, which did not win) and 2 of the 15 discussion tracks were focused on Ordinals, representing approximately 9% focus.
- Mining stage and Open Source stage: emphasis was not placed on ordinals.
In total, only 4 titles out of 128 mentioned Ordinals, constituting 3% of the total conference programming.
Now, I don't want to speak for the Bitcoin Conference, but at Bitcoin Magazine our goal is to cover all facets of Bitcoin, including ordinals. Neglecting ordinals would be irresponsible, given their impact on the chain, their potential long-term consequences, and their role in transforming UTXO and the valuation of the block space.
As an independent media outlet, we put everyone on one platform – for the sake of a debate that adheres to our very public editorial guidelines to allow everyone to draw their own conclusions. We drive the discourse and welcome competing narratives about Bitcoin. Being selective would make us no different than FOX News, CNN or MSNBC.
Ordinals are controversial, and resolving controversy requires more dialogue, not less. Withdrawing from a conference or criticizing an organization because of perceived “moral superiority” often reflects underlying issues such as complacency, cheating, or lack of intellectual rigor.
While some may interpret this perception of moral uplift as stemming from “compassion for non-coiners or those new to Bitcoin,” it is crucial to examine the situation more critically, as it often reflects a similar dynamic to the progressive cancel culture of the American far left. Comparing these political phenomena to the politics taking place within the Bitcoin community, we can note the rise of “Bitcoin wokisms” and purity testing, increasingly seen as thought leadership. To understand the potential direction of this trend, we can look at the impact of Cancel Culture in the United States. Here, concepts such as safe spaces, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and Make America Great Again (MAGA) were paralleled with Bitcoin narratives:
- Secure spaces are similar to those that require Bitcoin transaction filtering. (#FixTheFilters). You can also compare “filterbois” to COVID-19 vaccine mandate advocates.
- Bitcoin's universal potential for adoption and advancement has been overshadowed by pejorative accusations of fraud against those offering scaling solutions. In the same way that DEI advocates for a fair outcome, many bitcoiners argue that transactions on the Bitcoin main chain are also fair.
- Calls to shore up Bitcoin's current state echo the MAGA movement, which advocates maintaining any change or returning to “better times.”
Just like how the term “Nazi” was appropriated by the far left and MAGA types were disillusioned into thinking the economy under Trump was doing “just fine,” we are seeing a similar appropriation of the words “scam ”, “spam,” and “shitcoin,” with most usage based on opinion rather than fact.
Such dilution of terms diminishes their meaning and legitimacy, leads to inaccuracies in public discourse and compromises the identification of real threats. This is unfortunate because in the context of Ordinals there are real scams, including artificially inflated markets and affinity scams disguised as Ordinal projects run by Bitcoin SV supporters. Rather than highlighting the differences, the focus has shifted to pejorative arguments against the Ordinals, rather than engaging in discourse about the technical underpinnings and how we got here, which is a much larger problem. I'm looking at all of you Bitcoin Twitter users who played for Taproot with green square emojis!
The ODS has also given rise to an emerging trend of using ordinals as a basis and excuse to neglect non-monetary applications of Bitcoin, which is deeply troubling. This perspective conveniently overlooks Bitcoin's significant innovation in harnessing stranded energy to reduce emissions and secure the network and, furthermore, it ignores Bitcoin's capabilities to enable proof of existence, to provide timestamping solutions, facilitate decentralized domain name systems, support immutable messaging, and improve decentralized identity verification. .
Although Bitcoin is first and foremost money, ignoring its other features is a short-sighted and misguided approach. It is essential to recognize and explore the full range of applications of Bitcoin, because restricting our vision to its financial aspect alone is a limited approach.
Additionally, the belief that Bitcoin's global adoption will reflect the individual discovery journey of its 2020 cohort (or 4th halving) is a narrow perspective. It is essential to recognize that the path to widespread acceptance and use of Bitcoin may be as diverse and multifaceted as its potential applications. Ignoring the evolving nature of Bitcoin adoption and utility risks alienating yourself from ongoing developments and conversations, especially in a permissionless environment.
Canceling the speech does not call into question the speech.
Don't fall victim to ODS.