Bitcoin Ordinals Project Aims to Raise $34 Million

A Bitcoin ordinals project plans to raise over $34 million by auctioning an art collection featuring Microsoft Paint-style cartoon wizards. This follows a previous sale that raised $13 million.

Overview of Taproot Wizards
Taproot Wizards intends to auction 2,121 non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of its signature “magic internet JPEGs,” inspired by a 2013 Bitcoin meme: “magic internet money.” This auction is set for later this month. The Wizards were inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain two years ago and are now being made available for sale.

Previous Success
Last year, the project sold a collection of 3,000 “Quantum Cats” to support the Bitcoin improvement proposal (BIP) OP_CAT. Despite facing technical issues, the collection sold out quickly, raising 300 BTC in total.

Auction Details
The auction will begin on March 25. Initially, the Wizards will be offered to whitelisted buyers for 0.2 BTC (approximately $16,000). Any unsold NFTs will enter a Dutch auction, starting at a price higher than 0.2 BTC, which will be revealed closer to the auction date.

If all NFTs sell for 0.2 BTC, the project could raise around $34 million based on Bitcoin’s current price of about $80,000.

Background on OP_CAT
OP_CAT was included in Bitcoin’s original code by pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto but was removed due to potential risks, such as denial-of-service attacks. Developers are looking to reinstate it to introduce Ethereum-like smart contract capabilities, thus enhancing the original blockchain’s utility.

Project Objectives
Taproot Wizards aims to “meme OP_CAT back into existence” through initiatives like NFT sales. Last month, the project successfully raised $30 million to develop applications utilizing OP_CAT.