Cryptopunks are moving from Ethereum to Bitcoin Ordinals

CryptoPunk #8611, valued around $95,000, was burned on Ethereum and tied to ordinals on Bitcoin.

The NFT burning was an attempt by the community to create a series of ordinals representing fractional ownership of a Cryptopunk. CryptoPunk #8611 was sold for approximately 55 ETH this weekend.

It was then burned and reincarnated as ordinal 12,456,749 on Bitcoin. Interestingly, the original image was mirrored. The BRC-721E token standard, introduced in May, allowed users to create a "bridge" for moving NFTs from Ethereum to Bitcoin Ordinals through "teleburn". Simply put, they are
burned on Ethereum and then recreated on Bitcoin.

However, this is a one-way move, meaning there's no way back, and now the NFT cannot return to the Ethereum ecosystem. Additionally, when this happens, the new token won't carry the same privileges as the original one.

The idea for this move was a joint initiative led by Nathan Stein, a developer at Wolf Capital. Naturally, the idea was supported by the Bitcoin Bandits NFT holders community.

Approximately 150 people pooled their resources for this endeavor, the goal of which was to symbolically demonstrate the transition of valuable assets from Ethereum to Bitcoin. The objective is to create a series of ordinal inscriptions allowing fractional ownership of a Cryptopunk, even if the NFT is no longer on its original chain.

When an asset is burned, it's permanently stored in an address that no one can control. CryptoPunk #8611 was sent to one of these burned addresses, which also contains Ether and other tokens worth more than $50 million that can no longer be spent.

Interestingly, while this appears to be the first Cryptopunk to intentionally transition from Ethereum to Bitcoin, such a move has happened before. In March, CryptoPunk #685, owned by Brandon Riley and valued at 77 ETH ($129,000), was mistakenly sent to a burn address, resulting in significant losses for the trader.

In response, community member @Olliesblog re-launched the NFT on Bitcoin, making it the first CryptoPunk ordinal. "Huge thanks to @olliesblog for being so kind and selfless, resurrecting Punk 685 for me. It now lives on the Bitcoin blockchain as an ordinal, written in satoshis over a decade old," Riley said at the time.

If you recall, in February, Bitcoin-focused investor Jason Williams burned Bored Ape #1626 from the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection for an ordinal inscription.

“The NFT community is moving to BTC, where Ordinals have brought true scarcity to collectibles. I forever inscribed 'The Blonde Don' BAYC #1626 on the world's scarcest and most secure chain burning him off ETH forever using teleburn. It's done. Over. Not coming back to ETH,” Williams said