‘The Halvening NYC’ – Bitcoin’s Return On NFT NYC’s Opening Night

By: Christos Makridis

As the web3 community gears up for NFT NYC 2024, Nolcha Shows is organizing ‘The Halvening NYC,’ a nod to Bitcoin’s quadrennial halving of mining rewards slated to occur around April 20th of this year, that will convene on April 3rd. Together with Nolcha Shows, The Halvening NYC is brought partnership with Gamma.io, an Ordinals art platform and creator launchpad, and Inscribing Atlantis, the media and events organization serving the Ordinals protocol, and led by members of its core development team.

Bitcoin Ordinals are a protocol that allows for the inscription of digital assets, including images and texts, directly onto individual satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. They have emerged as a novel and technological artistic medium on the blockchain, providing utility beyond the sole purposes of Bitcoin’s store of value and fungibility for financial transactions. Ordinals have introduced a new form of NFT-like assets within the Bitcoin ecosystem, enabling unique digital artifacts to be minted, owned, and transferred on the Bitcoin blockchain.

“As a collector of NFTs on several blockchains, I’m always excited to see digital asset innovation–wherever it’s happening. But I’m most excited now, because now, the best and brightest minds have made their way back home to Bitcoin, and the most cutting-edge tech is happening on the longest-running blockchain. Some have touted that the best ideas will always find their way back to Bitcoin, and I think that might just be happening in 2024, the year of the halving,” said Nick Sainato, Co-Founder of Gamma.io.

Among these innovations, Hashlings will debut with a new value proposition for the web3 community. Hashlings is an Ordinals-based project offering a unique blend of Bitcoin mining, education, and gamification. By acquiring a Hashling, members gain access to an exclusive Bitcoin Club and access to discounted mining opportunities by way of ordinals, liquidity for their hashrate, and industry leading art.

Another example is CENTS. Following over a century of circulation, the penny has declined in its real value due to inflation and stands more as a collector’s item. While pennies since 1982 have been struck in in zinc, those before 1982 were mined from true copper and their metal value is approximately 2.5¢. After sorting through hundreds of thousands of pennies, CENTS took 10,000 copper coins out of circulation and archivally documented them, inscribing them on the Bitcoin blockchain. “Cents is a prism: perhaps the main facet is its existence as conceptual art — performing the core gesture of bitcoin and of the ordinal, the digital transformation of capital and the transformation of the smallest unit into a vessel of cultural value, the sat, the cent,” Sainato explained.

“Immersion cooling is revolutionizing Bitcoin mining by boosting the performance, efficiency and sustainability of mining devices by enabling mining operations to thrive, even as they adapt to the economic shifts brought about by halving events,” said Daniel Koff, COO of Rosseau Immersion.

Through the release of the Ordinals protocol and its proliferation over the past year, some argue Bitcoin is more adaptable to supporting complex use cases like NFTs without compromising its core principles of decentralization and security. This year, we’ve already seen transformational (and fun) applications like Ninjalerts’ Pizza Ninjas Ordinals collection, which includes a built-in SNES emulator that preserves classic video games on the blockchain—in playable format. Ninjalerts has partnered with Nolcha Shows to debut additional activations at the event.

Even higher level ‘metaprotocols’ built atop Ordinals like BRC-20 and the upcoming Runes metaprotocol – which launches on the halving block – have brought more liquidity and collector bases into Bitcoin, expanding applications and developer interest for advancing Bitcoin’s NFT capabilities without changing the core principles or code of Bitcoin itself. “Since the emergence of Ordinals, there have already been periods of time where the transaction fees earned by miners has indeed outpaced the revenues from newly issued bitcoins. As the issuance of new bitcoin continues to decrease with future halvings, the role of transaction fees becomes increasingly vital. Ordinals, by driving up these fees through increased demand for block space, provide a compelling solution to ensure the long-term security and stability of the Bitcoin network,” shared Josh Mills, CEO of Hashlings.

This event underscores why 2024 is heralded as the ‘year of Bitcoin,’ with asset managers accumulating Bitcoin through ETFs and the popularity of Ordinals among artists, investors, and technologists. “As the halving approaches, miners are increasingly focused on competitive strategies. Ordinals are a strategic lever in this pursuit – miners get first dibs on their blocks’ rare sats, offering an additional revenue stream in an already competitive market. Smart miners will use this to maintain an edge,” said Erin Redwing, CEO, Inscribing Atlantis.

The effects of the halving on dynamics in the market for Bitcoin are not yet clear. “While some industry players are expected to struggle, other firms have made it clear they intend to take advantage of buying opportunities and set themselves up for future growth,” said Ben Strack. For example, Core Scientific is “set to focus on opportunistically buying machines from struggling miners unable to afford parts of their existing orders after the halving,” according to a statement that Adam Sullivan, their CEO, made to Blockworks.

Coinciding with the opening night of NFT NYC 2024, the event positions Bitcoin at the forefront of the NFT conversation where Ethereum and Solana have traditionally occupied the conversation. “We’ve been producing world class events that support the biggest movements in artistic and technological innovation for over 16 years, but the energy and excitement around Bitcoin and its upcoming halving is the highest we’ve ever seen. The builders, investors, and project founders we talk to in preparing for our events have a clear and singular focus: ensuring Bitcoin remains king,” said Arthur Mandel, CEO of Nolcha Shows.

Both events, set to take place on April 3, 2024, offer an unparalleled opportunity for attendees to delve into the future of bitcoin, digital art, and mining, setting the stage for a transformative exploration of technology and creativity at NFT NYC. These events are a reminder that in the world of cryptocurrencies and NFTs, the only constant is change. And this time, Bitcoin may be leading the charge.