Can inscriptions still make money? On-chain data reveals the truth

Recently, the popularity of inscriptions is still rising, but honestly, most people entering the market now are betting on the second ORDI. Let’s first look at the current situation before deciding whether to jump in.

What is an inscription? Simply put

Using the Ordinals protocol to carve data onto Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin), which can be images, text, videos, and so on. In the community, it’s called “engraving inscriptions” or “inscribing.” If Bitcoin is digital gold, inscriptions are like gold jewelry—the same asset shared, but with a premium based on design.

BRC-20 is at the core of this hot trend—claiming there are no project teams, no private sales, and no rug pulls. Sounds great, but what does the on-chain data say?

The real picture: Bubble or opportunity?

24-hour trading volume rankings

• SATS: Over $2.2 million in trading volume, with more than 40,000 addresses holding assets
• RATS: Over $2.4 million, but only 8,000 addresses
• CATS: Over $1.4 million, with only 2,000 addresses holding assets

Historical cumulative data is even more revealing

• SATS: Over $84 million in cumulative trading volume, continuously attracting funds
• ORDI: Only about $1.5 million in total
• Others like BTCS, BEAR, etc., are at high levels, risking a correction

Who is making money? Honestly

Only the primary market is truly profitable—that is, during the first two weeks after launch. ORDI was priced at $3,000 for 100,000 tokens, peaked at $4.50, and is now around $2.80. This 100x return is the early bird bonus.

Problems with entering now:

1. Information asymmetry is deadly—apart from top projects, choosing which to invest in relies entirely on insider info and influencer recommendations; the market is fundamentally unfair
2. Transaction congestion—Bitcoin blocks are mined every 10 minutes, compared to Ethereum’s 12 seconds, leading to a terrible user experience
3. Poor infrastructure—high gas fees, slow transactions, and queues waiting for blocks

This is why ERC-20 tokens later took the lead—using the same logic but on Ethereum, solving all these issues. Now, various projects jump on the trend, but frankly, BRC-20 introduced the concept, ERC-20 solved the problem, and everything else is noise.

Risk warning: Don’t be the last bag-holder

Observe a phenomenon: addresses holding assets with more addresses (like SATS with 40,000 addresses) tend to have less trading volume, while those with fewer addresses (like CATS with 2,000 addresses) are more active—what does this mean? Most holders are trapped, and only a few big players are actively trading.

Looking back at history: that animal coin craze in 2021—how many are still not zero?

Bottom-line advice:

• Don’t touch projects you don’t understand; information gaps are death traps
• Only primary markets offer excess returns; secondary markets are mostly zero-sum games
• Inscription projects that can go viral are few; most are memes, and once hype fades, prices drop immediately

The inscription market is a mix of opportunity and trap. Rationality > passion, and risk is on you.