First 10k Ordinals Breakdown

What's the first 10k collection on Bitcoin Ordinals? There's several different ways of measuring it, and it may not be as straightforward as you think! Let's deep dive into different ways of tracking the "first" 10,000 piece Inscription collection on Bitcoin.

We've got 5 methodologies for "first 10k", and the winner is dependent on definition. A couple are more obvious than the others, but we want to at least cover the range of methodologies and review the landscape of early ordinals collections.

Sub10k | Ordinals Collection

One of the most obvious answers for "first" 10,000 piece collection are literally the first 10,000 inscriptions created. This collection spans from Inscription 0 → 9,999 but also #10,000 often gets included just because it's #10,000 😄

The Sub10k ordinals community has emerged organically and is led by a number of early collection founders. You can check up on what they're doing by visiting their Twitter & Discord.

One of the main reasons why the Sub10k ordinals collection isn't usually referred to as the "first 10k" is because the collection isn't officially recognized by many of the early inscription owners. There was no central coordinator making the collection happen and you could debate whether it's an actual "collection" as opposed to a group or community.

The Sub10k group recognizes this and have been incredibly positive about supporting each other & early inscriptions.

Bitcoin Punks | Ordinals Collection

The Bitcoin Punks are broadly considered the "first 10k" collection on Bitcoin Ordinals because they are:

✅ Predefined as a 10k

✅ Cohesive, thematic collection

✅ Minting was coordinated effort

There are a handful of reasons why Bitcoin Punks may not have the definitive crown for first 10k.They aren't an original art collection – many in the ordinals ecosystem believe that there should be special recognition for the first Bitcoin-native original 10,000 piece collection.

Also, Bitcoin Punks was an open mint using byte-perfect comparison and indexed according to ord client rules at the time. This isn't necessarily invalidating, it's just unconventional.

We at OrdinalHub regularly refer to Bitcoin Punks as the "first 10k".

Now we're getting into the alternative, nuanced methodologies for measuring "first" 10k.

Honey Badgers | Ordinals Collection

Bitcoin Honey Badgers are the first "original art" 10k collection to begin inscribing. There's a lot to be said for being this early to Bitcoin Ordinals with an entirely original art collection. Honey Badgers began inscribing at #81,557 and wrapped up the 10k at #1,029,518 2 months later.

We recently did a Twitter thread breakdown on the Honey Badgers!

However, the Honey Badgers were not the first 10k ordinals collection to be fully inscribed. This is the reason why most in the ecosystem do not consider the Honey Badgers to be the "official" first 10k. However the Honey Badgers do have an incredibly strong community & high concentration of early Ordinals collectors.

Nodemonkes | Ordinals Collection

Nodemonkes were the first original art 10k collection to finish inscribing. This collection gained a lot of fame (and recently notoriety) for it's enigmatic creator and confusing, inciting interactions with the Bitcoin Ordinals community. Nodemonkes are ranged #83,522 to #111,319

OnChainMonkey | Ordinals Collection

OnChainMonkey (OCM) is an iconic & technically innovative collection on Bitcoin Ordinals. The "parent" inscription for the collection, #20,219, dates back to the early days in February right after the launch of Ordinals. The novel inscription techniques OCM founder Danny Yang utilized make the collection hard to categorize.

Danny demonstrated a delayed parent-child + reveal technique for the first 300 inscriptions and then the rest of the collection, originally born on Ethereum, migrated/teleburned over to Bitcoin. It truly is one of the most fascinating collection stories of the year, interweaving community coordination and technical innovation. That's also why it makes it difficult to definitively categorize OCM in the lineup of "first 10k"

10k Ordinals Collections Closing Thoughts

Regardless of how we measure "first 10k" – the early days of Bitcoin Ordinals are legendary. And as we know from history – community & engagement is the most important thing for collections to accrue value, not necessarily the titles we give them.