Ethereum Inscription: Innovation or Regression?

Ethereum inscription ( Ethscriptions ) is a new way to create and share digital artworks on the Ethereum network. Compared to traditional NFTs, it uses transaction calldata, which is more cost-effective and has a higher degree of decentralization. Traditional NFTs typically rely on data stored in specific smart contracts, which may be controlled by a single entity.

Ethereum inscriptions draw inspiration from the Bitcoin ordinal ( Bitcoin Inscriptions ), and are also inspired by a famous early transaction on Ethereum. Unlike Bitcoin ordinals, Ethereum inscriptions do not require running a full node to sync data, making them easier to operate. Additionally, compared to Bitcoin wallets, ordinary users are more familiar with Ethereum wallets.

inscription working principle

• Any successful Ethereum transaction, where the input data ( is interpreted as UTF-8), is a valid data URI, will create an Ethereum inscription, provided that the data URI is unique. All valid MIME types are supported.
• For a URI, uniqueness means that there are no identical contents in previous blocks or in earlier transactions of the same block.
• Any Ethereum transaction with input data that is a valid Ethereum inscription transaction hash is a valid inscription transfer, provided that the transaction sender is the owner of that inscription.

Creating inscriptions

1. Directly upload images for one-click minting through the official website creation page, with a maximum image size of 96KB.

2. The manual operation steps are as follows:

• Use an online tool to convert the image ( to a Base64 encoded data URI with a maximum size of ~90KB ).
• Use online tools to convert data URI to hexadecimal.
• Send a 0 ETH transaction to the target address, filling in the converted hexadecimal data in the "Hex Data" field.
• After the transaction is successful, the inscription should appear on the official website's "My Ethscriptions" page, provided that the data has not been inscribed by others.

Transfer Inscription Method

• Find the inscription ID ( and create the transaction hash for that inscription ).
• Send a 0 ETH transaction to the recipient, filling in the inscription ID in the "hexadecimal" field.

Track Inscription

You can currently view the latest minted inscriptions on the official website or use an indexer. The official indexer has not been open-sourced yet, and users can obtain historical data from BigQuery and access real-time data using the Alchemy API.

Community members have also built an Ethereum inscription dashboard on Dune, where you can check relevant inscription information through the search box.

Founding Team

The earliest Ethereum inscription was created in 2016, but the official protocol, website, and supporting indexer were developed by Tom Lehman(Twitter:@dumbnamenumbers). Tom Lehman is the co-founder and CEO of Genius, an online media platform that brings music intelligence to the public, which has received $15 million in Series A and B funding from A16Z.

Latest Update

Founder Middlemarch announced three major updates for Ethereum inscriptions on Twitter on June 20.

1. Inscription number: A numeric identifier that shows the creation order, #0 is the genesis inscription.

2. Rewritten Indexer: To achieve stable and consistent numbering, the indexer has been rewritten. The new indexer indexes blocks more cautiously and quickly, and it does not index them out of order.

3. Double Check: The page creation will now automatically check if the content has already been inscribed and provide a warning to avoid wasting gas on creating invalid inscriptions.

Ethereum inscription gameplay

After the launch of Ethereum inscriptions, the first project collection "Ethereum punk" was quickly minted, and it currently has a floor price of 0.065 ETH on OpenSea, with active trading.

Then, a token mechanism similar to BRC-20 appeared, such as $eths. Players can mint by converting specific codes into hexadecimal strings and then sending a 0 ETH transaction to their own address. Since inscriptions cannot be duplicated, the ID needs to be modified by the user and is limited to below 21000.

Currently, there is no token standard established on Ethereum inscriptions. Any content minted in data form is considered valid, but is only interpreted as plain text. The transfer and construction functions of tokens are pending further development of the protocol.

Transactions of $eths are mainly conducted over-the-counter, with an initial cost of about $0.8. The over-the-counter price once reached tens to hundreds of dollars. In the case of insufficient liquidity, lacking reference standards, and difficulty in distinguishing authenticity, over-the-counter trading should be approached with caution.

In addition to $eths, there are also $gwei, $fomo, and other gameplay, as well as pure digital inscriptions. Some users have even inscribed two pieces of information related to Satoshi Nakamoto on the Ethereum inscriptions.

Summary

From recursive inscriptions to Ethereum inscriptions, the shift is rapid, reflecting the fast changes in the cryptocurrency industry. The emergence of new concepts inevitably sparks discussion, with some questioning whether it is truly innovative or rather a regression.

However, the existence of new things itself is rational. It provides new ways and forms for the blockchain ecosystem, enriches user choices, and encourages people to think about problems from different perspectives. In addition, it also offers users a low-cost opportunity to participate, with emotional value.

Whether through innovation or speculation, the emergence of Ethereum inscriptions offers us new perspectives and experiences, making it worthy of attention for future development.