1Sat Ordinals inscription

Inscription

A P2PKH lock plus an envelope that carries a file. The file is the object; the sat carries it.

What it is

An inscription puts a file inside the locking script, wrapped in an envelope that never runs. The envelope opens with OP_FALSE OP_IF, so the script skips it, and names itself with the word "ord". The output where the file first appears is its origin, and the origin outpoint is the object's id for life. Each later spend of that single sat moves the object to a new owner.

Script pattern

  1. OP_DUP OP_HASH160 <pubkey hash> OP_EQUALVERIFY OP_CHECKSIG A P2PKH lock: who owns the object.
  2. OP_FALSE OP_IF Opens the envelope. The script never runs what follows.
  3. "ord" Names the envelope as an inscription.
  4. OP_1 <content type> Field 1: the file's media type, such as image/png.
  5. OP_0 <file data> Field 0: the file itself.
  6. OP_ENDIF Closes the envelope.

Some inscriptions put the envelope before the lock instead of after it.

How it is spent

The owner's signature, as P2PKH, sent on as 1 sat so the object goes with it.

Background

Ordinal inscriptions began on BTC in early 2023. 1Sat Ordinals brought the envelope to BSV the same year, with one change that matters: an object is a whole 1-sat output, so tracking it needs no sat numbering. Because BSV has no small data limit, the file can be a full image, page or program.

On chain

999 inscriptions in the collections we index.

From the NFT collections we index: the latest mints. Transaction pages need sign-in.

Specification