A new Bitcoin nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace aims to reduce network fees associated with the advent of Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions by tapping into the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP).
Developed off the back of the creation of Bitcoin Ordinals in early 2023, Bioniq operates on the ICP and taps into its native Bitcoin integration to power the trade of Bitcoin-based Ordinals inscriptions.
Speaking to Cointelegraph on the eve of the platform’s launch, Bioniq CEO and co-founder Bob Bodily said the project has been in development since February 2023. The team has built a marketplace featuring Ordinals smart contracts auctions on the ICP, a complete cross-chain wallet between Bitcoin and the ICP, as well as an inscription tool.
“It had only been two weeks after Casey Rodarmor released Ord 0.4.0, and I knew Ordinals were going to be absolutely massive.”
The Bioniq team highlighted the growth in the market capitalization of BRC-20 tokens since their inception in Jan. 2023. The market cap now exceeds $3 billion, with over 42.6 million Ordinals minted to date. This has directly affected Bitcoin network congestion, leading to a spike in Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees last seen since 2021.
Bioniq’s…