Inscriptions (Ordinals, Runes)
Also · Ordinals · Runes · BRC-20
Inscriptions store arbitrary data inside Bitcoin transactions. Ordinals attach it to individual satoshis, Runes define fungible tokens on UTXOs. Both compete with payments for block space.
Bitcoin has carried small messages since its first block. Inscriptions, launched in 2023, turned this into a practice by placing files in the witness part of transactions, which SegWit discounts and Taproot made roomy. The Ordinals protocol numbers every satoshi so that an inscription can be tied to 1 of them and traded as a digital artefact.
BRC-20 then used JSON inscriptions to mint crude fungible tokens, and Runes, by the same author, replaced them with a design that lives in the UTXO model and costs less. None of this needs Bitcoin’s permission. All of it is read by external indexers, not by nodes. The activity drove fee spikes and a lasting argument between those who see spam and those who see any valid transaction as legitimate.
In French · Inscriptions (Ordinals, Runes)
