ORDI Token Plummets 15%—Is It the End for Bitcoin Ordinals?

• BRC-20 token Ordinal (ORDI) faces volatility after Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr criticizes Ordinals, labeling it as “spam” exploiting a Bitcoin Core vulnerability.
• Dashjr suggests Ordinals may cease to exist once the vulnerability is fixed, causing a 15% decline in ORDI’s price to $51.72.
• Some whales actively accumulated ORDI, but others strategically sold, with one whale securing profits exceeding $2.3 million.

In the last two days, the price of the BRC-20 token Ordinal (ORDI) has experienced significant fluctuations following a Bitcoin Core developer’s claims that Ordinals is an attack on Bitcoin. Lookonchain, a prominent crypto analysis platform, delves into the market dynamics surrounding ORDI and explores whether whales are selling or accumulating the token.

Is It the End for Bitcoin Ordinals?

In an X post, Luke Dashjr, Bitcoin developer and co-founder of the Ocean mining pool, criticized inscriptions like Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, labeling them as “spam.” He argued that these inscriptions exploit a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core.

When asked if Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens would cease to exist once the vulnerability was fixed, Dashjr confirmed that they would no longer be operational. As a result, the market correction saw ORDI experience a decline of over 15% from its opening price on December 6 to its current price of $51.72. Nonetheless, at the time of writing, ORDI’s price has risen more than 160% in the past 7 days and more than 370% in the past month.

Concentration of ORDI Holdings

Lookonchain’s analysis reveals intriguing insights into the distribution and ownership of ORDI. The top 30 holders of ORDI at the time of Lookonchain’s report possess a combined total of 16.78 million ORDI, equivalent to $950 million, representing 79.94% of the total supply. 

This concentration of ownership marks an increase compared to November 9, where the top 50 holders of ORDI collectively own 12.4 million ORDI, valued at $143 million, constituting only 58.95% of the total supply.

ORDI Whale Accumulation

Intriguingly, Lookonchain notes that whales have been actively accumulating ORDI in recent times. Two notable whales identified as OKX Exchange users have accumulated ORDI from prominent exchanges such as Bybit, Gateio, KuCoin, and Binance since May 20. In December alone, these whales acquired 57,299 ORDI, amounting to $3.15 million. Notably, they hold the positions of the second and tenth largest ORDI holders.

Furthermore, some whales strategically accumulated ORDI before the recent surge in prices and continued to hold without selling. For instance, the address ‘bc1q8u’ received 149,999 ORDI, equivalent to $2 million, from Binance and Gateio on May 22 and Nov. 27 at an approximate price of $13.5. Similarly, address ‘bc1qrl’ acquired 184,637 ORDI, valued at $4.26 million, from Binance between Nov. 17 and Nov. 23 for around $23.5.

The analysis also sheds light on ten addresses that collectively hold 1.2 million ORDI, with a combined value of $68 million. Surprisingly, all these holdings were acquired through minting and have not been sold, suggesting a strategic approach by these entities.

A Whale’s Strategic ORDI Sell-off

However, not all whales have been accumulating. Lookonchain pointed out that some strategically dumped ORDI just before its market experienced a significant drop.

For instance, on December 6, a savvy crypto investor sold 59,000 ORDI, worth $3.54 million, and secured profits exceeding $2.3 million, potentially after seeing the claims of Luke Dashjr. This individual previously withdrew 65,263 ORDI, valued at $1.3 million, from Binance on November 22, when the price stood at $20.