## Inscription Coin Mining Guide: Understanding the Opportunities and Traps of BRC-20 from Zero

The inscription coin market has been heating up recently, but do you really understand what it's all about? Don't worry, today we'll analyze it clearly in the most straightforward way.

### What exactly is an inscription coin?

Simply put, an inscription is something engraved on the Bitcoin blockchain. Using the Ordinals protocol to write text, images, or videos into satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin), this process is called "inscribing," and the resulting product is an inscription coin.

We can understand it this way: if Bitcoin is digital gold, then inscription coins are like gold jewelry. Gold itself costs over $300 per gram, but jewelry prices vary greatly depending on craftsmanship—that's the logic behind inscription coins.

In the Ethereum ecosystem, creating NFTs is called "mint," while in the Bitcoin ecosystem, there's a specific term called "inscribe," and the process is also called "engraving."

### What is the current situation of the inscription coin market?

Last year, some inscriptions skyrocketed by 100 times or even 1,000 times. Ordi is a typical example. On March 9 last year, it was possible to mint 100,000 units for just $3,000, with the highest price reaching $4.5 per unit. Now, ORDI's price is $4.58, which has already fallen significantly from its peak, but it is still regarded by many as the "Hermès of the crypto world."

Even more exaggerated is SATS, with a 24-hour trading volume of $410.18K, and the number of token holders has reached 54,702. What do these numbers indicate? They show that many people are indeed participating in the inscription coin market.

Every day, new inscriptions emerge in the market, with various concepts appearing endlessly, meme culture flooding the scene, and people constantly wondering if they can replicate the myth of Ordi.

### Is BRC-20 really what everyone is saying?

Someone has given inscription coins a name—BRC-20, claiming it is a new token distribution method, with no project team, no exit scam, and no rug pull risk, offering equal opportunities to everyone.

But is it really that ideal?

BRC-20 is indeed decentralized, with no private pre-sales, no unlocking or staking mechanisms. Anyone can participate in minting on a first-come, first-served basis. Its functionality is simple, with no other features besides quantity.

This sounds fair, but the reality is: currently, 85% of inscriptions on the Bitcoin chain are BRC-20, most of which are meaningless, just speculators repeatedly trying to become "the second Ordi," but the difficulty is astonishing.

### Where is the most profitable part of inscription coins?

The real profit comes during the primary market minting phase, similar to IPOs. But the problem is, how to choose among thousands of inscriptions? The information gap is huge. Besides well-known ones like Ordi, most inscriptions rely on recommendations and luck. This makes the market essentially unfair.

Moreover, Bitcoin's network characteristics are also a bottleneck: Ethereum produces blocks every 12 seconds, Bitcoin every 10 minutes—almost three times longer. Inscription transactions are severely congested, with high fees, making it difficult for newcomers to enter.

### ERC-20 is the true savior

Don't be fooled by BRC-20's concept; the real solution lies in ERC-20. It reduces gas fees, increases transaction speed, and almost perfectly overcomes all the pain points of BRC-20.

Currently, the inscription coin market is chaotic, with many projects trying to ride the hype. Objectively speaking, only BRC-20 and ERC-20 have practical application value; others are either concept hype or follow-the-trend.

### Data speaks

Looking at the latest 24-hour trading rankings, SATS leads, but the total trading volume of SATS has already exceeded $84 million, far surpassing Ordi's $1.5 million. The hype is still there, but buyers should be cautious of getting caught.

Rats, Cats, Btcs, Bears, and others are also active in trading, but ultimately, these are Meme coins. History has shown us what happened to animal coins in 2021.

### Standing at a crossroads

The inscription coin market is full of opportunities but also full of traps. Which inscription coin can truly break out and become the next phenomenon project? Which will only be Meme tokens that go to zero? No one can say for sure right now. We all stand at this fork in the road.

Before entering, rational analysis and in-depth research are essential because opportunities and risks are often two sides of the same coin. Invest in inscription coins cautiously, and bear the risks yourself. Hope everyone can find their own "gold jewelry" in this wave.