Asset Manager Franklin Templeton Examines Bitcoin’s Ordinal Wave

Global investment giant, Franklin Templeton has weighed in on the recent buzz surrounding Bitcoin Ordinals.

In a report titled “The Rise of Bitcoin Ordinals,” the firm’s digital assets arm, Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, explores the impact of this technology on the Bitcoin network.

Ordinals and Runes: Bitcoin’s New Wave of Innovations

Franklin Templeton highlights a “renaissance” in Bitcoin development spurred by Ordinals, new token standards (BRC-20, Runes), Layer 2 solutions, and DeFi applications. Ordinals, a method for inscribing data directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain, have exploded in popularity. This innovation fuels a surge in NFT activity on the network.

Furthermore, Franklin Templeton Digital Assets outlined the surge of Ordinal collections in the NFT market regarding volume and market capitalization. NodeMonkes, Runestone, Bitcoin Puppets, Ordinal Maxi Biz, and Bitmap are the top 5 collections, according to the report.

The company’s market analysis, shows that Bitcoin-based NFTs have surpassed their Ethereum counterparts in terms of growth multiple times since November 2023. A significant highlight from this analysis is the performance of Bitcoin Ordinals, which secured about a 50% market share in December 2023.

Read more: Top 5 BRC-20 Platforms To Trade Ordinals in 2024

NFT’s Market Share Comparison Across Chains. Source: Franklin Templeton Digital Assets

Although the report mainly focuses on Bitcoin Ordinals, the crypto community also showed excitement from seeing Runes mentioned.

“Glad to see Runes are on their radar as well,” a member of the Ordinals community, Leonidas, wrote.

Runes is a fungible token standard from Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor. He is also the figure who came up with the Ordinals’ idea. The Rune protocol is set to launch on Bitcoin’s mainnet following the upcoming halving.

Speaking of optimism in Bitcoin Ordinals, Bobby Lee, founder of Ballet, expressed his thoughts in an August 2023 BeInCrypto interview. He views Ordinals as evidence of Bitcoin’s open, permissionless nature.

“I think [Ordinals] shows that Bitcoin is really for everyone,” Bobby Lee said.

In its previous report, Franklin Templeton pointed to an overall NFT market recovery at the end of 2023. Based on their analysis, the recovery was largely attributed to the Bitcoin price rally and Ordinal activity.

However, despite the optimism, the price of ORDI, a token associated with Ordinals, has seen a 32.4% decline in the past 30 days.

Read more: Bitcoin NFTs: Everything You Need To Know About Ordinals

The fresh perspective from Franklin Templeton Digital Assets reaffirms growing institutional interest in Bitcoin and related digital assets.