Ghostface Killah, a prominent member of the legendary hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, has announced his foray into the world of cryptocurrency with the release of exclusive music as Bitcoin Ordinals.
The American rapper, whose real name is Dennis David Coles, plans to offer a limited supply of 10,000 music Ordinals through a free minting process, with holders receiving Creative Commons Zero (CC0) rights to the music.
TLDR
- Ghostface Killah, a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, announced the release of exclusive music as Bitcoin Ordinals.
- The rapper will offer 10,000 free-to-mint music Ordinals with Creative Commons Zero (CC0) rights, allowing holders to freely use, remix, and distribute the music.
- The collection was created in collaboration with Ordinals Bot, Rare Scrilla, and NakaPepes.
- While NFTs for music are becoming increasingly popular, using Bitcoin Ordinals for music distribution is still relatively uncommon.
- The rise of Bitcoin Ordinals has raised concerns about the potential impact on the security and congestion of the Bitcoin network.
The move marks a significant development in the intersection of music and blockchain technology, as Ghostface Killah becomes one of the first high-profile artists to utilize Bitcoin Ordinals for music distribution. Ordinals, which function similarly to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are inscribed directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain, using the cryptocurrency as the minting token.
Salaam!
I partnered w/ @NakamotosOnBTC @ScrillaVentura & @ordinalsbot to put new exclusive music on bitcoin.
10,000 supply, free mint & holders will have CC0 rights to the music
What communities deserve WL?#nakapepes pic.twitter.com/nER3D5VeiM
— Ghostface Killah (@GhostfaceKillah) March 18, 2024
Ghostface Killah’s decision to grant CC0 rights to the holders of his music Ordinals is particularly noteworthy. By waiving copyright interest, the rapper is effectively allowing anyone to modify, enhance, and reuse the music without restriction.
This approach could potentially foster a new era of creativity and collaboration within the music industry, as fans and artists alike are given the freedom to build upon and remix the original work.
The exclusive music release is the result of a collaboration between Ghostface Killah and several prominent players in the cryptocurrency space, including Ordinals Bot, Rare Scrilla, and NakaPepes.
This partnership highlights the growing interest in the potential applications of blockchain technology beyond the realm of finance, with music and art increasingly becoming a focus for innovation.
While the use of NFTs for music distribution has gained traction in recent years, with platforms like Sound.xyz and Audius enabling artists to exercise greater control over their work, the utilization of Bitcoin Ordinals for this purpose remains relatively uncommon.
Ghostface Killah’s initiative could potentially pave the way for more musicians to explore this avenue, as the unique properties of Bitcoin Ordinals offer a new level of scarcity and immutability to digital assets.
However, the rise of Bitcoin Ordinals has not been without controversy.
Some members of the Bitcoin community have expressed concerns about the potential impact of Ordinals on the security and congestion of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr has pointed out that inscriptions can bypass certain data size restrictions by disguising data as program code, which could lead to increased spam on the blockchain.
PSA: “Inscriptions” are exploiting a vulnerability in #Bitcoin Core to spam the blockchain. Bitcoin Core has, since 2013, allowed users to set a limit on the size of extra data in transactions they relay or mine (`-datacarriersize`). By obfuscating their data as program code,…
— Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) December 6, 2023
While a patched bug has been addressed in a Bitcoin Knot Update to mitigate congestion issues, Dashjr believes that further bug fixes could eventually stifle the growth of Bitcoin Ordinals and impact development within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Despite these concerns, the popularity of Ordinals continues to grow, with over 60 million inscriptions processed on the Bitcoin blockchain to date.
