​Bitcoin NFTs are a thing now? (Turns out the BTC community is not very happy about it).

​Wow.

The Bitcoin community is P-I-S-S-E-D about this functionality being made available.

...but there's a difference between NFTs and what's happening here with Bitcoin, so let's get into it...

These are Bitcoin 'inscriptions,' not Bitcoin NFTs.

"Hey look, another nebulous term!"

What in the world is the difference?

Let's bring this back to a real world analogy...and we'll use Ethereum as an example, seeing as it's the most popular blockchain for NFTs:

Think of Ether tokens (ETH) as the US Dollar, and NFTs as physical art.

Artworks aren't recognized as US currency. But they can be traded for US Dollars - the same way that NFTs aren't Ether tokens, but the two can be exchanged.

This Bitcoin 'inscription' thing is different.

What it does is, it writes identifying code into individual satoshis (SATS), which are a denomination of Bitcoin (like cents on the dollar: 1 SAT = 0.00000001 BTC)

And in that code, you can add links to images and videos (similar to an NFT, but not the same).

Ok, ok. Hold up!

Identifying code? Embedding image links into 'satoshis?' We're getting a little too technical here.

Let's back things up. Let's make it real:

Inscribing a satoshi would be like taking a penny and scratching your name into it, making it unique.

And if the feeling were to take you - you could even scratch a link to an image or video file in there.

(You and your tiny, tiny hands).

So as it is circulated, it's still uniquely identifiable.

Which all sounds pretty harmless.

...so why is the Bitcoin community so mad about it?

The same reason we curse out AT&T on a daily basis: data availability.

The Bitcoin network can only process 1MB of transaction data, every ten minutes (and right now 1MB of data = roughly 4200 transactions).

But if people start adding extra code to their satoshis, the amount of bytes that make them up, will increase.

Which will reduce the amount of transactions the network can process in that 10 min window, and increase transaction fees (as demand for space increases).

Alright, that's it.

Now you know!