Just ahead of the highly anticipated Bitcoin halving, the Bitcoin network has surpassed 65 million Ordinals inscriptions. This achievement was reached on April 11, within a span of less than one year and three months since their introduction in January 2023, according to data from Dune.

Ordinals represent the pioneering form of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain, distinguishing them from many of today's popular NFT collections that store their metadata on centralized servers, introducing additional vulnerabilities.

This milestone is particularly significant as it precedes the upcoming Bitcoin halving, scheduled for around April 19, which will reduce block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. So far, Ordinals have contributed over $458 million in network fees for Bitcoin miners, serving as a crucial revenue stream for mining operations leading up to the halving.

The achievement of 65 million Ordinals underscores the growing demand for block space on Bitcoin and emphasizes the necessity for additional Bitcoin layer-2 networks. According to Mithil Thakore, CEO of Velar, this trend signals the need for utility around Ordinals through lending and derivatives markets, potentially driving the rise of Bitcoin L2s to support smart contracts and bring Ordinals as well as BTC to decentralized finance (DeFi).

BTCFi, or Bitcoin decentralized finance, aims to extend DeFi capabilities to the Bitcoin network. With the current adoption rate, BTCFi could potentially match or even surpass the innovation of Ethereum-based DeFi in the future, according to Nash Lee, co-founder of MerlinSwap.