TL;DR

• Most people think of Bitcoin 'Ordinals' as Bitcoin ​NFTs​...but they're more than that. The Ordinals system is a way of uploading any sort of data to the Bitcoin Network.

• The 'Descent into Darkness Music Engine' is a super basic piece of software, which is now living permanently on the Bitcoin Network.

• The program lets you click a button and get a randomly generated Gameboy-style tune in return (​try it out for yourself!​).

• Music engines might not be the killer use case for Ordinals, but the more folks tinker with creations like this, the closer we get to realizing a range of enduring applications.

Full Story

Most people think of Bitcoin 'Ordinals' as Bitcoin ​NFTs​.

...but they're more than that.

The Ordinals system is a way of uploading any sort of data to the Bitcoin Network. That data could make up artwork, games, ​meme coins​...

Or even a music engine.

The 'Descent into Darkness Music Engine' is a super basic piece of software, which is now living permanently on the Bitcoin Network.

The program lets you click a button and get a randomly generated Gameboy-style tune in return (​try it out for yourself!​).

Is it needed? No.

Is this the future of music creation? Let's hope not.

Is this something we want to see more of? Absolutely.

Why? Because fun-yet-seemingly-useless tinkering like this creates signal, over time:

The more an idea is explored/adopted → the more it signals demand → the more businesses are built around serving that demand.

For example:

In the early days of the internet, folks started creating fun-yet-seemingly-useless websites on GeoCities (like the one dude who created an ​official homepage​ for his cat, Jerry C.)

Stuff like this signaled demand for platforms like MySpace, which then proved the 'social model' that gave us Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok etc.

Music engines might not be the killer use case for Ordinals, but the more folks tinker, the closer we get to realizing a range of enduring applications.

Nice!