The Truth About Inscription Coins: From Thousand-Fold Profits to Zero Traps

Regarding whether you can make money with Inscription Coins and if it’s worth participating, opinions in the community have always been divided. Some have achieved financial freedom through Inscription Coins, while others have lost everything chasing price swings. To understand the true value and risks of Inscription Coins, we need to start by analyzing their underlying logic.

What exactly are Inscription Coins?

Inscription Coins refer to digital assets created by writing data into satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) using the Ordinals protocol. In simple terms, the written data can be text, images, videos, or any other form of data.

A vivid analogy is: if Bitcoin is considered digital gold, then Inscription Coins are like gold jewelry. Gold itself has limited functionality, mainly serving as a store of value; but jewelry gains differentiated value through craftsmanship and design. This is why many people are entering the Inscription Coin market—they see the potential for added value.

As the elder brother of blockchain, Bitcoin doesn’t have complex smart contract capabilities like Ethereum, but through the Ordinals protocol, it can carry richer information. This is the technical foundation of Inscription Coins.

How to participate in Inscription Coins? The difference between creating and minting

In the Ethereum ecosystem, creating NFTs is called “minting,” whereas in the Bitcoin ecosystem, this process has a specific term: “inscribe.” The resulting digital asset is called an “inscription.”

In community discussions about participation, people often ask, “What are we inscribing today?” Here, “inscribe” refers to creating new Inscription Coins. If you’re used to calling it “mint,” that’s also fine—both terms essentially mean the same thing: participating in the primary market of new projects.

BRC-20 vs. ERC-20: Problems and solutions

In March 2023, a Inscription Coin called Ordi made a remarkable market debut: it was possible to mint 100,000 tokens for just $3,000, with the highest price reaching $4.50, a rise of over 1,000 times. This case was dubbed “Hermès of the crypto world,” sparking market chasing.

Later, some gave Inscription Coins an academic name—BRC-20—claiming it to be a new token distribution method with no project team, no exit scams, and no rug pulls, offering equal opportunities to participants.

But is that really the case?

BRC-20 is actually an experimental meme token deployed on Bitcoin using the Ordinals protocol. They are truly decentralized, with no private placements or pre-sales, and no unlocking or staking mechanisms. Anyone can participate in minting on a first-come, first-served basis. This model sounds democratic, but its functionality is extremely limited—beyond the quantity, it offers no other utility or application scenarios.

Currently, about 85% of Inscription Coins on Bitcoin are BRC-20 tokens. Most lack meaningful use cases; they are just speculative attempts by traders hoping to become the next Ordi. But breaking out of the circle is very difficult.

In contrast, ERC-20 solves the core issues of high transaction costs and slow block times. Bitcoin produces a block every 10 minutes, while Ethereum does so every 12 seconds, leading to severe transaction congestion and high fees on Bitcoin-based Inscription Coins. ERC-20 not only reduces gas fees but also significantly improves transaction speed.

From a technological evolution perspective, BRC-20 introduced the concept, while ERC-20 addressed the actual problems. Currently, only these two have real practical value; other Inscription Coins are mostly riding the hype.

Transaction data comparison: who deserves more attention?

Based on 24-hour trading data in the Ordinals market, the main Inscription Coins perform as follows:

sats: Over $2.2 million in 24-hour trading volume, with more than 40,000 addresses holding, and a total historical trading volume exceeding $84 million. In comparison, Ordi’s total historical trading volume is just over $1.5 million, indicating sats has more sustained popularity.

rats: About $2.4 million in 24-hour trading volume, with over 8,000 addresses, also a focus of market attention.

cats: Around $1.4 million in 24-hour trading volume, but only about 2,000 addresses, suggesting participation is more concentrated and riskier.

Additionally, other BRC-20 tokens like btcs, bear, and others are traded, but behind these numbers lies an important issue: all BRC-20 tokens are meme-like products. Once the hype fades and funds exit, will they end up zero like many animal-themed tokens in the 2021 bull market? This is a question all participants need to consider.

Three questions about Inscription Coin investing

Question 1: Primary market risks

The most profitable part of Inscription Coins is indeed during the minting phase. But which Inscription Coin should you choose to participate in? Besides Ordi, purchasing other Inscription Coins often heavily depends on information asymmetry—you need recommendations and analysis from others. This information gap makes the market unfair, with the insiders profiting while latecomers buy in at higher prices.

Question 2: Infrastructure still needs improvement

The technology behind Inscription Coins is still in its early stages, with incomplete infrastructure. Beginners face high entry barriers. Issues like network congestion, high fees, and slow block times persist, limiting large-scale adoption of BRC-20.

Question 3: Meme nature is hard to break through

In the community, people often say they don’t know which Inscription Coin can go viral or which will end up zero like meme tokens. This actually reveals the core problem: most Inscription Coins lack practical utility and rely solely on hype and popularity to sustain themselves.

Conclusion

The Inscription Coin market is full of opportunities but also fraught with risks. Rational analysis and thorough research are essential before participating. Don’t be fooled by stories of thousandfold profits—these are survivor bias. When considering Inscription Coin investments, ask yourself three questions: Do I truly understand this project? Can I afford to lose 100% of my investment? Are my information sources reliable?

Only by answering these questions clearly should you consider betting in the Inscription Coin market. Invest cautiously and accept the risks yourself.