Ordinals drop from ImmutableType.com
Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon trio
Gm, and Hola from Miami,
The day is finally here (6/9/23)!
We’re dropping our first Ordinals collection and using this occasion to create a trio of drops across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon.
Ok, Ok. Yes, you can come back and read the newsletter later if you just want to collect the drop. Follow these links to each of the drops, but we’d love to see ya come back and read the rest of the newsletter. :)
All three NFTs are part of The Headliners 2023 Collection.
The Headliners by ImmutableType is an NFT collection made up of 52 drops throughout the 2023 season. These drops will include editions minted on Polygon, Ethereum, and Bitcoin, with only 48 complete sets possible for all collectors. This trio will include drops #19, #20, and fittingly #21.
This drop is titled: Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink
In the lore of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, left a secret message within the first block of Bitcoin ever created.
Within the timestamp, Satoshi included the following text:
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
The message refers to the headline of the British newspaper, The Times, from January 3, 2009 and is one of the most important headlines in technology and financial history.
Here is a picture of the paper’s frontpage from 1/3/09 Article reference here »
There’s even a website tracking original copies of the printed paper from that day:
https://www.thetimes03jan2009.com/
Fourteen years later, we are all able to inscribe the Bitcoin blockchain with our very own messages, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, we are again in the midst of bank meltdown f*ckery.
Ordinal inscriptions were developed and launched January 2023 by Casey Rodarmor and have ignited new energy, utility, and controversy into the Bitcoin community.
We are fully in support of the utility Ordinals provide Bitcoin, specifically to be inscribed with arbitrary data. The ability to inscribe data supports the mission of ImmutableType to fortify trusted journalism via blockchain ledgers and decentralized community ownership.
As this is a fun subject requiring some deep dives, I’ll provide some links to the history of this message for our community–
This link will take you to the Bitcoin block explorer, where you’ll be able to view the message as it lives on: https://bitcoinexplorer.org/tx/4a5e1e4baab89f3a32518a88c31bc87f618f76673e2cc77ab2127b7afdeda33b#Scripts
Below is a screenshot of the current Bitcoin Explorer of Block #0
This link connects to the WaybackMachine for the archive of the content of the newspaper from this date. One of the most telling takeaways of the archive of the data is the need to store works of journalism on the blockchain forever. The archive is the best we have, and it’s messy and virtually unusable. Blockchain fixes that.
The original Bitcoin Whitepaper is available via this link and is required reading for all who wish to fully understand the historical context of why blockchain is so powerful. It’s only nine pages. Read and share it.
Wait. What are Ordinals?
As noted above, it was Casey Rodarmor who developed the modern inscription practice by authoring a numbering scheme for sats, or Satoshis. Casey has termed this work as Ordinal Theory.
Here are some useful links before I move on too far from the beginning of the conversation:
Casey’s Blog: https://rodarmor.com/
Ordinals website: https://ordinals.com/
Ordinal theory: https://docs.ordinals.com/overview.html
Ordinals Github: https://github.com/ordinals/ord
Also, let’s use a TL;DR summary for those who prefer:
Sats are Satoshis, and Satoshis are 1 / 100,000,000 of a bitcoin. It’s like a really small penny which can hold data forever.
Ordinal theory names each sat, which makes each sat identifiable and transferable.
Inscriptions inscribe sats with arbitrary data and are bitcoin-native NFTs which qualify as “digital artifacts”.
Ordinals, therefore, encompass all the above and is the common description of NFTs inscribed on the bitcoin blockchain.
Note: Ordinals are never NFTs on blockchains other than bitcoin.
Why are Ordinals Important?
The key advantage of Ordinals as a use case is that they are truly decentralized digital assets. I have described a bit of my argument for why ImmutableType will pursue Ordinals as a strategy in a prior Substack post linked here.
The short answer is that Ordinals are defined by Casey as digital artifacts, which have a number of qualities which you may review via this link.
A critical strategy for our mission within ImmutableType is hidden deep within our name: immutability. We are creating tools to fortify trusted journalism, and doing so requires storing information immutably as its original unaltered format.
Here is a screenshot from the Ordinals website about what criteria defines digital artifacts:
As we seek to create immutable records of journalism to further our mission, solutions which are attack resistant become important for appropriate use cases.
Documented history has a way of erasing itself, and any NFT which is stored in a centralized and editable environment is at risk of being impacted. Bitcoin is the most decentralized and attack-resistant blockchain invented to date, and this becomes the ideal available option when working to decentralize journalism.
It should be noted that at this time we are operating on the Polygon blockchain and storing our data to decentralized storage of IPFS. While an outstanding current solution, ImmutableType will evolve to adopt the most attainable solution for each use case of our community and membership. This is why we’re beginning this experiment with Ordinals. We are learning and testing in public.
Download Xverse App, Collect Ordinals
Here is a very short primer of how to begin collecting Ordinals.
Create a bitcoin wallet for your phone or laptop.
Download Xverse.app (recommended)
Create an account with Xverse
Write down your seed phrase and save it in a safe place offline. (You’ll need this seed phrase forever, so be safe. Don’t share it with anyone.)
Buy a small amount of bitcoin, or transfer from another bitcoin wallet.
Connect your Xverse wallet to Gamma.io
Gamma is a Bitcoin focused marketplace and features Ordinal. It’s similar to traditional NFT marketplaces on Ethereum and other blockchains.
Navigate to Ordinals Minting Now
Collect Ordinals
Note: the navigation of the marketplace may be a bit confusing at times, as this is a new category for the industry. If you want to collect Ordinals, remain within the Ordinals navigation menu, rather than the STACKS marketplace. Stacks is an L1 which builds upon Bitcoin but does not mint Ordinals. Tricky navigation at times.
Direct link to Ordinals category: https://gamma.io/ordinals/categories?tab=minting-now
The Headliners Trio Drop Details
We’re employing a unique idea for this drop by dropping three different NFTs on three different blockchains as part of the full 2023 collection for our community.
Each blockchain will have its own unique art variable of the base artwork. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon will each be used to mint unique artwork.
Each artwork will consist of 50 editions to pay tribute to the 50 BTC minted in Block #0 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
The Ordinals drop is #21 as a nod the number 21,000,000, which is the total number of all bitcoins which will ever be mined.
The number 369 has many references and will be left for the community to consider its meaning.
Drop Title: Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink
The artwork from this drop makes use of current memes of grids of artwork featuring the ImmutableType typewriter logo and BTC coin art.
We are detouring from AI generated art of traditional news headlines for this drop but continue the practice of minting web links to commit them onchain as part of the metadata.
You’ll need the ability to access three networks for the trio drop: Ethereum, Polygon, and Bitcoin. The first two may be accessed via a Metamask wallet, and the Bitcoin blockchain via Xverse.app.
Details of Mint
Scheduled live: 06/09/2023
Three unique art pieces, one per chain
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polygon minted artwork
50 editions per piece on each chain
These drops are number #19, #20, #21 respectively
Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink (Blue)
Minted data links to: Ordinals GitHub repo
Blue background
Full grid of logos
ImmutableType typewriter logos
50 editions
Drop # 20 - Polygon Editions (Purple)
Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink (Purple)
Minted data links to: Bitcoin whitepaper
Purple background
Full grid of logos
ImmutableType typewriter logos
50 editions
Satoshi 369, Chancellor on Brink (Black)
Minted data links to: Block #0
Black background
Bitcoin coins in center matrix
ImmutableType typewriter logos
50 editions
What’s next?
This drop has been a super exciting experience for us and will continue to evolve throughout the year. (hint, remember, there are only 48 possible full sets of The Headliners by ImmutableType.)
Part of this journey is learning. Despite the negative crypto headlines, despite the saber rattling by current officials, blockchain is too important to civilization to not invest time to advance our understanding and knowledge of the technology.
The above is not achievable without new skills being acquired and some effort being committed to develop new skills. Please breathe when frustrated and push on when the technology feels unfinished, because it is unfinished. We’re all building it together.
As we push this drop out the door and wish it well, we are now on to our next milestone, which is recruiting our cohort #0 journalist participants. We are onboarding twelve journalists as our first publishers, and our DMs are open. Every single journalist we have spoken with to date has found this solution to be intriguing and have provided valuable feedback. We’re looking for new introductions, so please send our way. ty. :)
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
As always, thank you for reading and sharing. I’m excited for the upcoming drops on Immutable Type.
We’re learning loads each day and hope you enjoy the work as we build.
Cheers,
Founder, Immutable Type