Bitcoin-Based Space Pepes Top NFT Charts

The Bitcoin blockchain continues to defy expectations as it’s now the home of the top NFT collection by weekly volume.

With nearly $7.4M worth of trades, collectors have pushed an NFT project called Space Pepes to the top of the seven-day charts. That’s ahead of even the Bored Ape Yacht Club, arguably the most identifiable NFT collection.

Space Pepes are part of a group of NFT collections called Pixel Pepes, and nearly all the trading activity took place on May 19.

It’s a wild development considering that just last year, the idea of NFTs on Bitcoin would have seemed absurd. That’s all changed since the invention of Ordinals, a way of “inscribing” the smallest units of Bitcoin, called Satoshis, with arbitrary data including text, audio, and video.

Ethereum has typically been the home of the most successful NFTs, with competing projects on other blockchains generally written off as less significant. This is partially because the Ethereum blockchain is older, has more liquidity, and has more of a cultural footprint than newer blockchains like Solana or Avalanche.

NFTs on Ethereum may soon face real competition if Ordinals’ momentum continues. This is because the Bitcoin blockchain is both older and more valuable than Ethereum, potentially giving tokens etched into its blockchain significant cultural weight.

Qiao Wang, a well-known investor and core contributor to the web3 accelerator AllianceDAO, called the uptick in Bitcoin NFTs a “narrative violation.”

At $35.8M, the Bitcoin blockchain has posted the second-highest NFT volume in the past week, according to CryptoSlam.

Excitement around building on Bitcoin is at its highest level in years — developers are also actively exploring enabling smart contract solutions on the world’s most valuable blockchain.