How to Inscribe Ordinals: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Jun 9, 2025
The emergence of Ordinals has created an entirely new market of unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, turning Bitcoin into one of the most popular ecosystems for NFT collections.
If you want to create your own Bitcoin Ordinals, all you need to do is inscribe your content onto individual satoshis using an inscription app.
Read on to learn how to inscribe Ordinals on this step-by-step guide for beginners.
TL;DR
Bitcoin Ordinals are unique digital assets on Bitcoin (similar to NFTs) that are created by inscribing individual satoshis with data.
To create your own Ordinals, you connect a Taproot-enabled Bitcoin wallet (like Xverse, Leather, and Magic Eden Wallet) to an inscription app like OrdinalsBot or UniSat, upload the content you want to inscribe (such as text, images, or videos), and pay the inscription fee.
If you have Ordinals from popular collections, you can use them as lending collateral on LiquidiumWTF to borrow bitcoin against them.
What Are Bitcoin Ordinals? A Quick Refresher
Ordinals are unique digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain that are created by inscribing content (such as images, text, or videos) onto individual satoshis.
Unlike “traditional” NFTs, Ordinals are inscribed directly on-chain, so each inscription's content “lives” on the Bitcoin blockchain and isn’t hosted on a third-party server. In that sense, Ordinals deliver on the original promise of NFTs to provide true verifiable digital ownership for unique assets.
Currently, there are almost 100 million Ordinal inscriptions. While many of them are random inscriptions just to immortalize memes, there are several prominent Ordinals collections.
You've probably already heard of Taproot Wizards, Bitcoin Puppets, NodeMonkes, and OrdinalMaxiBiz, which have emerged as some of the most popular collections. Or maybe you already hold some of the digital collectibles in your wallet.
One of the best things about Ordinals is how easy it is to create your own. Let’s get into that next!
What You Need Before You Can Start Inscribing Ordinals
Your starting kit for Ordinals inscription consists of three things: a Bitcoin wallet, funds in BTC to pay the fees, and the content that you want to attach to a satoshi.
Important: Your wallet must support Bitcoin Taproot addresses that start with “bc1p.” Taproot wallets are also “Ordinals-aware,” meaning that, unlike standard Bitcoin wallets, they won’t allow accidental spending of an inscribed satoshi.
You can check out Taproot-compatible wallets such as Xverse, Leather, Magic Eden Wallet, Phantom, and UniSat.
Next, fund your wallet with BTC to be able to pay inscription fees. Most wallets will allow you to buy BTC directly within the app using a fiat onramp.
Understanding wallet addresses
It’s vital to use addresses correctly so you won’t lose your Ordinals inscriptions. Here are some useful tips:
Avoid sending UTXOs (unspent transaction outputs) with Ordinals inscription with regular UTXOs in a single transaction.
Enable the spend protection feature in your wallet, if available.
Always double-check addresses before sending inscriptions.
How to Inscribe Ordinals Step-by-Step
Now, let’s go through the inscription process step by step. In the example, we will use OrdinalBot as the inscription platform and Xverse as the Ordinals wallet.
Connect your Taproot-compatible Bitcoin wallet to the inscription platform
On the OrdinalsBot website, you’ll easily find the “Connect” button at the top of the page. Click on it and choose the wallet from the list.
Then you’ll need to click “Accept” and approve the connection.
Once it’s done, the “Connect” icon on the OrdinalsBot home page will change to a generic avatar.
That completes the account creation on OrdinalsBot.
Upload your content
Click 'Inscribe' in the top menu of the website, and add your files that you want to turn into an Ordinal. You can upload images, text, audio/video, and other files, even games.
Keep in mind that the file size directly influences the cost of your inscription, so optimizing your content can save you a lot of satoshis. Many inscription platforms have an optimization feature that helps reduce the file size. Don’t ignore it for the benefit of your BTC balance.
Set the transaction fee you’d like to pay
Decide how quickly you want your Ordinal to be inscribed and choose the fee that fits your timing and budget.
OrdinalsBot will show you the current network fees, usually in categories like low, normal, or custom.
Provide your wallet address for the inscription
Pay close attention to this step because your inscription needs to go to one of these dedicated Ordinals addresses to ensure it's safely received and correctly recognized.
Make sure to always use a new, dedicated Taproot address for each new inscription.
Sign the transaction and pay for the inscription
This is the moment to give your Ordinal the green light to be inscribed onto Bitcoin. Take one last, careful look at all the details and then click “Submit & Pay Invoice.”
Confirm the transaction in your wallet. This payment covers both the Bitcoin network fees and the platform's service fee.
Monitor the transaction status and receive your Ordinal inscription
You can check the real-time status of your inscription directly on the platform or on a Bitcoin blockchain explorer, as you’ll receive an order ID or a transaction hash.
Once your transaction has received enough confirmations on the Bitcoin blockchain, your new Ordinal inscription will appear in the "Collectibles" or "NFTs" section of your wallet.
Advanced Inscription Techniques to Save on Transaction Costs
We’ve guided you through the most straightforward way to inscribe Ordinals, but there are always tips and tricks that can help make the process more cost-effective.
Batch Inscribing for Collections
When inscribing an entire collection, or perhaps a series of digital assets, you can upload all your files at once, provide the necessary details for each, and the platform bundles them into one optimized process.
A batch operation allows many inscriptions to share the fixed overhead of a single Bitcoin transaction, thus reducing the per-inscription cost.
File Optimization Strategies
Every byte you save directly translates into fewer satoshis spent on network fees. Therefore, you need to try these file optimization methods:
Reducing dimensions can drastically cut down file size.
Many online tools and software allow you to compress images without a noticeable drop in quality.
Use tools that can automatically remove metadata and significantly reduce the cost to inscribe Ordinals.
Timing Your Inscriptions
Here is how you can time your inscriptions to pay lower fees:
Choose off-peak hours, when major financial markets are closed.
Monitor congestion patterns: usually weekends or late-night hours see slightly less activity.
Use real-time fee estimators to figure out what rate is currently getting transactions confirmed quickly.
Use Top Ordinals Collections As Collateral to Borrow Bitcoin on Liquidium
Now that you know how to inscribe Ordinals, you can create your own Bitcoin-native digital assets and even list them on an NFT marketplace. Who knows, maybe your Ordinals would become legendary and sell like hot cakes.
But if you already happen to own Ordinals that belong to a popular collection, you can use them as collateral to borrow bitcoin without selling the actual assets on LiquidiumWTF.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute financial advice, and we strongly recommend conducting your own research and consulting with a professional financial advisor before making any investment decisions. We are not liable for any potential losses incurred from applying the strategies discussed. Proceed with caution and at your own risk.
FAQs
How much does it cost to inscribe ordinals?
The cost to inscribe Ordinals varies widely, depending on your content's file size, whether you’re inscribing one item or a whole collection of them, and the current Bitcoin network congestion. It might be a couple of dollars, hundreds, or even thousands. You pay in BTC, and higher fees mean faster confirmations, while optimizing files and timing inscriptions can reduce costs.
How do I inscribe Ordinals to Bitcoin?
To inscribe Ordinals to Bitcoin, you need a Bitcoin wallet that supports Taproot and an inscription website. Simply connect your wallet, upload your digital item (like a picture), and have enough BTC to pay fees. The website handles putting your Ordinals onto Bitcoin and sending them back to your wallet.
What wallet do I need to inscribe Ordinals?
To inscribe Ordinals, you need a Taproot-compatible Bitcoin wallet, such as Xverse, Leather, or Phantom. This kind of wallet supports Bitcoin Taproot addresses. They are necessary to properly handle and store the unique data of Ordinals on the Bitcoin blockchain.