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How to Get Started in NFTs and DeFi on the Bitcoin Blockchain
The Bitcoin whitepaper clearly states the main objective was to create a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. The narrative then shifted for a long time to “Bitcoin is a store of value” when it became clear it wasn’t going to work as first intended. While “Bitcoin as a store of value” was fine and the asset appreciated, development on the protocol didn’t evolve much at all for many years. Bitcoin was simply digital gold.
Today however, the Bitcoin narrative is once again shifting as fun new use-cases have emerged. An army of blockchain developers have moved back to Bitcoin with the advent of Ordinals BRC-20, Runes, and STAMPS SRC-20 tokens. Bitcoin Ordinals were first introduced to the crypto world in January 2023 and STAMPS were created by developer “Mike In Space” shortly after in May. Both Ordinals and STAMPS are forms NFTs on Bitcoin offering end-users the opportunity to own digital collectibles on the worlds top blockchain.
If you’re interested in learning more about the growing Bitcoin NFT and DeFi ecosystem you’ve come to the right place. We’ll walk you through the details of how to get started in Bitcoin Ordinals, Runes, BRC-20, NATs, STAMPS, SRC-20 tokens, and more. This Guide to Bitcoin DeFi and NFTs will be updated as new protocols and tools are built so check back often!
Update April 2024… The Runes protocol is scheduled to launch mid-April 2024 and it could be a game changer for meme coins on Bitcoin. Runes will improve the Bitcoin fungible token trading experience and help expand the DeFi ecosystem. It’s important to point out that Runes is not an “add-on” or update to BRC-20 but a brand new independent meme token standard on Bitcoin. Runes is a completely new fungible token protocol on Bitcoin that will enhance the shitcoin ecosystem first started by BRC-20.
Watch our “Guide to Bitcoin Runes on Magic Eden” tutorial video below…
Watch our Guide to Minting Bitcoin Runes on Ord.io and Luminex…
Top Web3 Bitcoin Wallets for NFTs and DeFi
Getting a Web3 wallet is step one if you’re looking to enter the world of NFTs and DeFi on Bitcoin. One of the best wallets for Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions is Xverse. It’s also a great option for BRC-20, Runes protocol tokens, and for trading Rare Sats on Magic Eden.
Watch our tutorial video below to see how easy it is to install the Bitcoin Xverse wallet as a Google Chrome extension…
UniSat Wallet is an open source Chrome extension and is another great option for Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens. In addition to being a solid BTC wallet option, UniSat.io is one of the top marketplaces for BRC-20 tokens and ordinals.
The top wallets for Bitcoin STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens are; Leather Wallet, Ninja Wallet, Unisat Wallet, and OKX Wallet. Once you have a Web3 Bitcoin wallet, the next step is to send $BTC to it.
Watch our tutorial video below to see how to send Bitcoin from Coinbase to an Xverse wallet…
Watch our tutorial video below to see How to Send Bitcoin from and Xverse wallet to another wallet address…
Mempool is the top Bitcoin Explorer and is where you’ll track the status of your transactions and see network statistics.
In-Depth Guide to the Bitcoin Ordinals and STAMPS NFT Ecosystem
Ordinals and STAMPS are the two main types of NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain. The method in which the digital collectables are minted / inscribed on-chain is different but they are essentially both forms of Bitcoin non-fungible tokens. Without getting too technical, Bitcoin Ordinals are inscribed in the witness data of Satoshis (SATs) while STAMPS are stored in the UTXO (unspent transaction outputs) ensuring immutability.
Ordinals are a little less permanent (they could theoretically be pruned by Bitcoin miners) than STAMPS but they’re also less expensive to inscribe and offer a wider range of possibilities in terms of asset type / size. Ordinals currently have a larger userbase which means more liquidity but that could change in time.
Bitcoin STAMPS (secure, tradeable art maintained securely) leverage the Counterparty protocol which has been around since 2013 and they are 100% permanent NFTs. They are uprunable by nodes as they are stored in the UTXO but are also less dynamic than ordinals as they are confined to a 24×24 pixels size.
Below is a STAMPS vs Ordinals comparison chart OKX shared on X that shows the similarities and differences between the 2 types of Bitcoin NFTs…
The bottom-line is that both Ordinals and STAMPS are great options for folks looking to own collectible assets stored on Bitcoin. The choice of owning Bitcoin Ordinals or STAMPS really just depends what you’re lookin to accomplish. If you want flexibility in regards to the asset type and size then Ordinals is likely a better option. If you want guaranteed permanence on Bitcoin and find the 24×24 constraint a positive (which many people do) then STAMPS would be the best choice.
Top Bitcoin STAMPS Marketplaces:
Stamped.Ninja is the best place to trade Bitcoin STAMPS. The platform also makes it easy for individuals to create new STAMPS which we’ll touch on more in-depth later on… The Stamped Ninja marketplace makes it easy to browse Bitcoin STAMPS by Latest Sales, New Dispensers, Latest SRC-721 (another form of STAMPS), Latest Art STAMPS, Trending Collections, and more. Stamped Ninja is also a leading launchpad for larger Bitcoin STAMP collections like StamPepes. Although mainly focused on STAMPS, Stamped Ninja does also offer the ability to mint and trade SRC-20 tokens which we’ll cover a little later on in this Bitcoin NFT and DeFi guide.
NinjaWallet is the most user-friendly Bitcoin STAMPS native wallet to-date. It’s highly secure and is built upon the foundation laid by FreeWallet ensuring 2-way passphrase compatibility. It makes it easy to buy, sell, transfer, and view STAMPS within the wallet. NinjaWallet for Bitcoin STAMPS works just like any other Web3 wallet. To create one, simply go to the Stamped.Ninja Marketplace, click on “NinjaWallet”, and click “Create New Wallet”. The key thing to remember when creating any Web3 wallet is to write down your Secret Phrase / Seed Phrase and store it in multiple locations. Once you have a Ninja Wallet, simply send $BTC to it and you’re ready to trade STAMPS on the Stamped Ninja platform.
Watch our tutorial video below for an overview guide of how to buy Bitcoin STAMPS on Stamped Ninja…
OpenStamp is another good marketplace for Bitcoin STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens. The following Bitcoin wallets are compatible with OpenStamp; Unisat, Leather (Hiro), and OKX wallet. Currently, OpenStamp is a better marketplace for SRC20 tokens than it is for STAMPS but that could change. The OpenStamp “OG Pass” collections gives owners vip access to new mints as well as other perks. Similar to Stamped Ninja, OpenStamp has a user-friendly Minting tool for the creation of new STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens. Currently, there are less than 400,000 Bitcoin STAMPS in existence which is still a very low number when compared to Ordinals at over 61,000,000 inscriptions.
Watch our tutorial video below to see and example of how to purchase Bitcoin STAMPS on OpenStamp…
Popular Bitcoin STAMPS Collections and Artists:
Stampepes by pifu is the first original 10K Bitcoin STAMPS collection. It was a free mint via the Stamped Ninja launchpad that fully minted out in early January 2024. Stampepes flew under the radar for a while before catching steam all at once. Since minting out as the first original 10K STAMPS collection, Stampepes have been steadily adding new users and are poised for a big run in the coming bull market.
VivaLaStamps by @viva_la_vandal is a blue chip Bitcoin STAMPS collection based on the art and total volume which to date (February 26, 2024) is over 3.7 $BTC. Viva is a talented artist and early STAMPS adopter that’s carved out a nice niche. He does a great job of capturing important internet memes with Bitcoin STAMPS and his style is easy to recognize. Early Viva La Vandal STAMPS are sub 20k and I think everything in this collection will continue to appreciate overtime.
Book_of_Stamp by @Stampdirectory is a curated collection of Bitcoin STAMPS and a great place to start your journey. Every art stamp added to this collection is vetted by their DAO and they have an SRC20 token $BOS.
Stampunks are the most permanent derivative of Crypto Punks and the collection has done over 17 $BTC to date. The first Stampunks is stamp #4 which sold for over $65,000 on April 7, 2023. The entire collection is sub 75,000 making it an early Bitcoin STAMPS collection.
Src721 Avime consists of 2500 unique female anime art pieces. It has 710 unique holders with a total sales volume of over $85,0000 to date and it’s sub 70,000 Bitcoin STAMPS collection. The top stamp in the collection is #1357 which has done over $14,000 in volume.
HomerPunks by cmyk is a classic Homer Simpson Bitcoin STAMPS collection. It’s done over $885,000 in total volume and has 1509 unique holders. It’s easy to identify with HomerPunks as so many of us grew up watching the Simpson cartoon.
FLOCKS by fake_arwyn is a sub 20k STAMPS collection with the #8 as the earliest! There are a total of 19 sheep in the flock and it’s done over $124,000 in total volume thus far. Most in the collection are 1 of 1s but STAMP #11 has a total supply of 285 and has done over $53,000 in volume. Not financial advice but FLOCKS #11 just might be one of the best plays in all of Bitcoin NFTs currently with open dispenser of around $800.
BOBO by regan is a classic Bitcoin STAMPS collection which ranges from the first at #29 to the last at #74435. The bear known as BOBO is a fan favorite that will live forever on the worlds top blockchain.
A_Pixel_Dreams is an awesome new collection by @jamex_art who’s been making great digital art for a while now. I believe this is his first Bitcoin collection and there are 20 unique STAMPS in it. He describes the A_PIXEL_DREAM collection in the following way, “Part 1 – I was Alive. Oneiric experience happening in the blockchain. An open story told with constraints of pixels“.
Based_Intellectuals is a very early sub 5k Bitcoin STAMPS collection created by @TO. Trevor is a thought leader and top builder in the Bitcoin Ordinals and STAMPS community. He took zero profits as the initial collection was given away free via airdrop. There’s a total of 56 STAMPS in the collection each with a locked supply of 500. The Society of Based Intellectuals is a very interesting STAMPS collection due to it’s gamification and provenance.
HNFTPepe_SVGs is an awesome collection of 14 sub 100K Bitcoin STAMPS created by digital artist @HnftPepe. The art in this STAMPS collection has a high-end feel and the market loves it with over $42,000 in sales volume so far. I suspect that when Ordinals money flows into Bitcoin STAMPS, HNFTPepe SVGs will be a collection they’ll want to own.
How to Create New Bitcoin STAMPS:
Stamped Ninja makes it easy to create your own Bitcoin STAMPS. Step 1, simply go to their website and create a Ninja Wallet. Step 2, go to the following page on Stamped Ninja… wallet.stamped.ninja
Step 3, click on “Mint” where you can upload your png or gif and follow the steps to create your own Bitcoin STAMPS. They need to 24×24 pixels in size with 8-bit color depth of PNG or GIF. Some look at the limited flexibility in size and file type of STAMPS to be a negative, but often times constraints equate to higher levels of creativity.
OpenStamp also makes it easy for crypto users to create new Bitcoin STAMPS. An advantage to using OpenStamp for creating new STAMPS are the wallet choices offered… You can use Unisat, Leather, or OKX Wallet to create new BTC STAMPS with OpenStamp. Both Stamped Ninja and OpenStamp’s new STAMP creation interfaces are great options for those looking to mint their art onto the Bitcoin blockchain forever. 
How much does it cost to create new Bitcoin STAMPS? The cost to create new STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens depends on how busy the Bitcoin Mempool is at the time you mint. Like any transaction on Bitcoin, you have to pay the miner fees.
Here’s a great post that provides more detail on creating new Bitcoin STAMPS by @trustmachinesco
Top Bitcoin Ordinals Marketplaces and Collections:
The number of Bitcoin Ordinals collections far exceeds STAMPS at this moment in time. Currently, there are over 61,400,000 ordinal inscriptions and just 330,010 art STAMPS. Therefore, I’m sure more than a few solid ordinals collections will be overlooked. Please note, this list of top Ordinals projects will be updated regularly as new blue chip collections emerge. Magic Eden and Ordinals Wallet are the top two Bitcoin Ordinals marketplaces but some others include…
UniSat Marketplace is a good option for ordinals and they were one of the first.
OKX is a leading Bitcoin Ordinals Marketplace and a lot more!
Ordyssey is the first Ordinals aggregator, making it easy to buy and sell across all marketplaces.
Watch our video below to see how to get started trading Bitcoin Ordinals on Magic Eden…
Bitcoin Frogs are one of the first Free mint 10K ordinals projects which launched on March 8, 2023. The Bitcoin Frogs origin story is very interesting as the first 2000 or so frogs were naked due to an issue with layering during the mint. Misprint Frogs v1 emerged as their own Ordinals collection offering early provenance and a strong group of holders.
Ordinal Maxi Biz (OMB) is another early Bitcoin NFT collection with a great origin story as well. The artist is Tony Tafuro and he’s well known in the IRL art and book scene. He teamed up with @ZK_shark in early 2023 to create Ordinal Maxi Biz. OMB is a collection of just over 2,000 Bitcoin Ordinals and around 1,300 unique owners. Ordinal Maxi Biz consistently has had among the highest floor prices of all BTC Ordinals NFT projects.
NodeMonkes launched in late 2023 well after other notable 10k Bitcoin Ordinals collections. However, do to their early inscription numbers (most are sub 100,000), they are considered by some to be the first original 10k Bitcoin NFT collection. They’ve quickly created a rabid holder base that post the phrase “SEND NODES” often on the X platform.
Bitcoin Puppets are another 10K ordinals collection that have been on fire since launch. The project has no roadmap other than vibing, thriving, and striving for world peace.
Pizza Ninjas are the creation of Trevor @TO who is a leader in the Bitcoin Ordinals space. The Ninja are among the strongest communities in Bitcoin Ordinals and the Pizza Ninjas collection has over 1,200 holders which is very impressive given that collection size is just 1,500 NFTs.
Bitmap is an organic, community driven metaverse project built on Bitcoin. It’s an open-source standard that uses mined Bitcoin blocks as the metaverse land. Bitmap has a higher unique holder count than The Sandbox, Decentraland, and any other Web3 Metaverse project in existence. The Block Runner Podcast @TheBlockRunner does a great job of explaining what Bitmap on Bitcoin is and covering developments of the project.
Watch our video tutorial below to see a step-by-step example of how to buy Bitmap Ordinals on Magic Eden…
Other notable mention and underrated Bitcoin Ordinals projects are…
- Quantum Cats
- Puppet Maxi Biz (PMB)
- OnChainMonkey Genesis
- Bitcoin Punks
- Pingoos
- DogePunks
- MegaPunks
Ordinals are inscribed in Satoshi (SATs) which are the smallest available unit of Bitcoin. Some Bitcoin Ordinals are inscribed on Rare SATs like Block 9 or Palindrome which increases their value. Trading Rare Sats on Magic Eden and other Ordinals marketplaces is gaining momentum.
Watch our tutorial video below to see how to buy and sell Rare SATs on Magic Eden…
The Bitcoin DeFi Ecosystem is Growing with Runes, BRC-20, and SRC-20 Fungible Tokens
BRC-20 and SRC-20 are the top two token standards that allow for the minting and transferring of fungible tokens on Bitcoin. They’ve sparked a brand new DeFi ecosystem on Bitcoin that it still in it’s infancy. New protocols are being built to make trading these Fungible Tokens on Bitcoin easy like we’ve already seen on many other blockchains. For example, Ordiswap ($ORDS) seeks to be the main DEX (decentralized exchange) on Bitcoin similar to what Uniswap is on Ethereum. $ORDS will unlock unparalleled liquidity on Bitcoin Layer 1. Ordiswap is the first native Bitcoin L1 BRC-20 Swap DEX and AMM.
Like Ordinals, Bitcoin BRC-20 tokens are inscribed into Satoshis (SATs) using JSON code. Like STAMPS, SRC-20 tokens are stored in the UTXOs (unspent transaction outputs) making them permanent on Bitcoin. Below is a list of the top SRC-20 and BRC-20 tokens to date. The list will be updated when things change as they do quickly in crypto…
Top Bitcoin SRC-20 Token Projects:
STAMP has the largest market cap and holder count of all the SRC-20 tokens at the moment. The name $STAMP speaks for itself and is an ambassador token for the SRC-20 movement.
Major Update 2/29/2024: $STAMP becomes the first SRC20 token to get listed on a major centralized exchange! KuCoin announced that STAMP/USDT pair is now tradable on KuCoin which is one of the largest CEXs. The listing announcement of $STAMP on KuCoin is a monumental moment for Bitcoin STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens.
KEVIN is the first Bitcoin SRC-20 token deployed and the top meme project. The market cap of $KEVIN is currently around $12,000,000 and is has a holder count of around 2,140. The KEVIN community is strong and the meme has already sparked the inceptions of several Bitcoin STAMPS collections. The question is, who the hell is KEVIN?
STMAP is the first collaborative community-based Bitcoin Pixel Art project. It’s backed by the $STMAP SRC20 token. Development of StampMap is underway and will enable $STMAP holders to inscribe, draw, or write anything they want on their map pixels. 1,000 $STMAP tokens equals ownership of one credit for one pixel on the 300×300 pixelated StampMap. They say having pixels on StampMap will be like owning a peiece of Times Square in New York City.
StamPad is and early SRC-20 token launchpad which will enhance DeFi on Bitcoin. The StamPad SRC-20 launchpad is powered by their $PAD token. The StamPad team aims to help make the creation of premier SRC20 tokens easy for builders and provide a great end-user experience for investors. It’s becoming clearer everyday that DeFi on Bitcoin will be one of the most obvious plays in 2024 and beyond. STAMPS and SRC-20 tokens will be significant players in Bitcoin DeFi making the prospects of a project like StamPad (and their token $PAD) very intriguing.
Watch our Bitcoin SRC-20 STAMPS tutorial video below…
Top Bitcoin BRC-20 Token Projects by Market Cap:
ORDI is currently the top BRC-20 token by market cap. It’s one of the first BRC-20 tokens and has a large holder count. CoinGecko is a good place to learn more about $ORDI and the top BRC20 tokens by market cap.
SATS is a top meme BRC-20 token on Bitcoin that represents the Ordinals community. $SATS say they are the most memeable meme coin on the Bitcoin blockchain.
TRAC provides a decentralized network that tracks Bitcoin Ordinals metaprotocols. More than a BRC-20 token, TRAC is a well funded project specializing in building new blockchain products like Trac Core, Tap Protocol, and Pipe.
As you can see, Bitcoin is progressing from a “store of value” to a vibrant blockchain where DeFi and NFTs thrive. It’s still early, but it feels like taking time to learn and participate in what’s being built on top of Bitcoin is time well spent. The grandaddy of all blockchains is coming alive for the first time and looks to usurp the advantages once owned by alt-chains like Ethereum. If that is actually the case, then it could pay big time to pay attention.
If you found this Bitcoin NFTs and DeFi guide helpful, please make sure to check out some of our other crypto tuorials:
“Magisat the First Bitcoin Ordinals Mempool Marketplace”
Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.