Bitcoin Hits 44M Non-Zero Addresses

According to cryptocurrency analytics company Glassnode, the introduction of Ordinals, the Bitcoin nonfungible tokens (NFTs), has pushed the total number of non-zero BTC addresses to a record all-time high of 44 million.

To mark the first time in Bitcoin’s 14-year existence, Glassnode indicated in a study released on February 13 that a percentage of network connections is employed for purposes other than peer-to-peer financial BTC transfers. 

The report states: 

“This is a new and unique moment in Bitcoin history, where an innovation is generating network activity without a classical transfer of coin volume for monetary purposes.”

According to Glassnode, the recent “short-term uptick in Bitcoin network usage” caused by the Ordinals rise has attracted numerous “new active users” with non-zero BTC balances to the network.

According to Glassnode, “the primary source of this activity is due to Ordinals, which instead of carrying a large payload of coin volume, is instead carrying a larger payload of data and new active users.” 

“This describes a growth in the user base […] from usage beyond the typical investment and monetary transfer use cases,” it continued.

Ordinals Fail to Push Bitcoin Prices Higher

While Ordinals’ increased competition for block space demand is “creating upward pressure on the fee market,” according to Glassnode, it hasn’t resulted in a noticeably higher price for Bitcoin transactions.

The smallest unit of BTC, the satoshi, can have any number associated to it using the Ordinals scheme, allowing users to engrave graphics like those of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), which are native to Bitcoin. Over 78,400 NFT-like pictures and films have already been engraved.

The Ordinals protocol has recently come under fire from certain well-known “Bitcoiners,” including Blockstream CEO Adam Back, who claims it diverges from Bitcoin’s original intent to function as a peer-to-peer electronic payment system.  

However, others have been more receptive to the notion. Dan Held, a proponent of BTC, has claimed on numerous occasions that Ordinals increase the “financial use cases to Bitcoin.”

Interestingly, Blockstream CEO Adam Back recently predicted that BTC will hit $10 million in nine years while adding that its volatiliy will continue to increase with time.