On June 26, 2023, the number of Bitcoin-based Ordinal inscriptions surpassed 14 million, just six days after exceeding 13 million. Inscription activity has continued to rise since then. In addition to text, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and fungible BRC20 tokens, Ordinal inscription technology has ushered in a new naming standard called Sats Names, built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin’s Sats Names Emerge
According to statistics, in June 2023, Ordinal inscriptions surpassed the 14 million mark. As of July 1, 2023, there are now over 14.41 million inscriptions. So far, this trend has provided bitcoin miners with an additional 1,799.65 BTC, equivalent to roughly $54 million in inscription-related fees.
The vast majority (86%) of these inscriptions are simple plain text, while the remaining inscriptions are various file types such as JPGs and PNGs. Furthermore, Ordinal inscriptions have catalyzed the emergence of a new form of Bitcoin-based tokens under the BRC20 standard.
Recently, new concepts such as “rare satoshis” or “satributes” have emerged, along with a new trend known as Sats Names. Sats Names, also referred to as SNS, is a standard for creating human-readable names on the Bitcoin blockchain using Ordinal inscription technology.
This allows users to mint names with appended extensions like .sats and .xbt. For example, a user could choose a name like satoshi.sats or jimmy.sats. The guidelines specify that each ordinal can have only one name, and any UTF-8 character is permissible.
“Capitalization does not matter,” the Sats Names documentation details. “All names will be registered as lowercase. No spaces are permitted within a name.”
To check the availability of a Sats Name, individuals can use the Sats Names API, a web service that allows users to query the availability of Sats Names. Names are obtained on a first-come, first-served basis and can be purchased through various marketplaces focused on Ordinals.
The concept of decentralized name services has been present since Namecoin in 2011, and similar ideas have been implemented on other blockchains, such as the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) standard.
According to the Sats Names documentation, as of June 2023, there have been 250,000 .sats names inscribed, along with an additional 120,000 SNS names inscribed for other namespaces such as .ord, .btc, and .xbt.
The documentation indicates that so far, around 50,000 users currently possess SNS names, and it states that SNS name resolution is supported on the Unisat wallet and Ordinals wallet.
What are your thoughts on the rapid growth of Bitcoin’s Sats Names ecosystem and its potential impact on blockchain innovation? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.