Recently, discussions about inscriptions have been heating up in the market. Some people say the gains could reach hundreds or even thousands of times, but others are losing money. So what exactly are inscriptions? Can you still participate now? Are there opportunities to make money? Let’s start with the current market situation.

Simply put, inscriptions involve using the Ordinals protocol to write content (text, images, videos, etc.) onto the smallest unit of Bitcoin, satoshis. If you compare Bitcoin to digital gold, then inscriptions are like gold jewelry—essentially the same, just in a different form. In the Ethereum ecosystem, this process is called "mint," while on Bitcoin it’s called "inscribe." The common phrase "minting inscriptions" refers to this process.

Once this concept gained popularity, various inscription projects emerged rapidly. Last year, the inscription project Ordi saw a 1,000-fold increase, allowing users to mint 100k units for $3,000, with the highest single-unit price reaching $4.50. Now? The price of Ordi has fallen to $2.35, with a one-year change of -60.85%. It doesn’t look as glamorous anymore.

Someone has given inscriptions a new name: BRC-20, claiming it’s a new way to distribute tokens, with no project team or risk of rug pulls, and anyone can participate. Sounds good, but what’s the reality? BRC-20 is an experimental token deployed on the Bitcoin chain using the Ordinals protocol. Anyone can mint these tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. It’s truly decentralized, with no private sales or pre-sales, but its functionality is very limited—mainly just the token quantity. Currently, 85% of inscriptions on Bitcoin are BRC-20, mostly by speculators betting on the next Ordi, but very few have truly gone viral.

Looking at the current market data makes this clear. The 24-hour trading volume of sats is $354.5k, with 54,083 addresses holding them; Rats have a trading volume of $2.68M, but only 17,797 addresses hold them; Cats have a trading volume of $229k, but data on holders is missing; BTCS and BEAR have even smaller volumes, at $1.43M and $123.8k respectively. What does this data tell us? It indicates that most inscription projects are rapidly losing popularity.

The most profitable part of the inscription market is actually during the primary minting phase. But the problem is, how do you choose among so many projects? Besides Ordi, which has been validated by the market, most others rely on information asymmetry—whoever learns first can buy the dip. That’s clearly unfair.

There’s also a technical issue. Bitcoin’s block time is 10 minutes, while Ethereum’s is just 12 seconds. This causes serious transaction congestion and high fees for inscriptions. The technology for inscriptions is still in its early stages, with incomplete infrastructure, making it difficult for newcomers to get involved. Later, ERC-20 emerged to address high gas fees and improve block times, perfectly compensating for BRC-20’s shortcomings. Today, many projects try to ride the hype, but honestly, only BRC-20 and ERC-20 have real value; others are just following trends.

Returning to the initial question: Can you still participate? Is there a chance to make money? Honestly, there are opportunities, but the risks are also high. The inscription market is full of speculation. After the hype fades, capital flows out, and many projects could end up like the meme coins of 2021—completely zeroed out. We are now at a crossroads; no one can be sure which inscriptions will truly go viral and which are just short-term memes.

Therefore, my advice is: if you want to participate, do so with rational analysis and careful research. Small-scale trial and error are okay, but don’t risk your entire capital. This era of digital gold indeed offers opportunities, but it also requires strong risk awareness. If you’re interested, you can check the real-time data of these projects on Gate, compare the numbers carefully, and then decide. Invest cautiously and bear the risks yourself.