The recent update to the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol aims to rectify over 71,000 flawed or “cursed” inscriptions, allowing them to be recognized and traded. These inscriptions were rendered invalid due to intentional misuse or incorrect construction using opcodes to create inscriptions and were referred to as “cursed inscriptions”.
The Ordinals protocol was changed to version 0.6.0 on June 4, which would be the first step in indexing the previously unknown inscriptions, according to developers including Twitter user ‘Raphjaph’. Casey Rodarmor, the creator of the Ordinals, first suggested a solution to the problem in late April: identify these cursed inscriptions and change them to “blessed” ones.
Bitcoin Ordinals are non-fungible asset artifacts that allow data to be written onto a satoshi, the smallest unit in a Bitcoin. Thousands of them were imprinted on the Bitcoin blockchain the next month, generating congestion and increases in transaction fees. Casey Rodarmor established the system in January.
Support for certain aspects of the various varieties of cursed inscriptions was included with the upgrade. In order to accomplish this, a block activation height is defined, over which a certain class of previously illegal inscriptions would begin to be indexed as legitimate positive inscriptions.
LeonidasNFT, an Ordinals influencer, provided the following explanation as to why these will be included in the list of tradable indexed Ordinals: “This is important because over 70k existing but invalid inscriptions are now supported which means that once marketplaces upgrade to v0.6.0 you will be able to start trading them.” He continued that everyone in possession of a cursed inscription “should expect the negative inscription numbers to be shifted.”
With the inclusion of cursed inscriptions as legitimate positives, their holders can expect a shift in inscription numbers. Similar to NFTs, ordinal inscriptions hold value for their rarity and collectability. Since the trend’s inception, 10.8 million ordinal inscriptions have generated $45.5 million in transaction fees, indicating significant interest and potential future worth.