NFT marketplace Magic Eden has officially added support for Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions, marking another step in its multichain expansion strategy. The company said it is working with wallet providers Hiro and Xverse to deliver a more familiar transaction experience for users entering its Bitcoin-focused marketplace. With Bitcoin now added, Magic Eden supports four blockchains: Solana, Polygon, Ethereum, and Bitcoin.
A major move into the Bitcoin collectibles market
The launch reflects Magic Eden’s effort to position itself in one of the fastest-growing segments of digital collectibles. In its Bitcoin section, the marketplace introduced a range of Ordinal inscription collections, including Bitcoin Boos, Bitcoin JPGs, BTC Machines, Ordinal Tortoises, Unordinals, Satoshi Punks, and Megapunks. The company framed the move as consistent with Bitcoin’s culture, emphasizing values such as trust, security, and decentralization.
Magic Eden said the expansion aligns with its broader mission of promoting collectibles and blockchain technology while staying true to the principles behind those systems. The company has already grown beyond its original Solana roots, having expanded to Polygon and Ethereum before adding Bitcoin. It also noted that it is re-planning a more concerted entry into Ethereum, suggesting that its multichain strategy is still evolving.
Ordinals growth creates a new competitive arena
The timing of the launch is notable. At the time referenced in the source material, the number of Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions had climbed to nearly 600,000, with 567,622 inscriptions minted on-chain. According to data cited from Dune Analytics, Ordinals surpassed the 500,000 mark on March 17, 2023. That rapid growth helped transform Bitcoin-based collectibles from a niche experiment into a market segment substantial enough to attract established NFT platforms.
Magic Eden is entering a field that already includes emerging Ordinals-focused marketplaces such as Gamma.io, Ordx.io, and Generative.xyz. Still, the platform brings a significant track record. The report notes that Magic Eden has recorded $2.08 billion in all-time sales, and data from DappRadar places it as the fifth-largest NFT marketplace by all-time sales. That existing scale could give it an edge as users look for established interfaces and deeper liquidity in the Bitcoin collectibles market.
Wallet partnerships and the royalty question
To make the onboarding process smoother, Magic Eden partnered with Hiro and Xverse, two wallets already associated with the Bitcoin ecosystem. The goal is to reduce friction for users who may be new to trading Ordinal inscriptions but expect a straightforward wallet-based experience similar to what they have used elsewhere in crypto.
One of the more closely watched elements of the launch is Magic Eden’s stance on royalties. The company said it spent considerable time thinking through how royalties should be handled for Bitcoin-based inscriptions and ultimately chose to launch without royalty support for now. That decision mirrors a broader debate across NFT markets, where platforms and creators continue to clash over the role of enforceable royalties, optional fees, and marketplace competition.
By entering Bitcoin without royalties at launch, Magic Eden appears to be prioritizing market access and user adoption over a creator-payment structure that remains technically and commercially unsettled in the Ordinals ecosystem. Whether that model persists may depend on trader behavior, creator demand, and the direction of competing marketplaces.
Branding for Bitcoin and what comes next
Magic Eden has also created a dedicated social identity for its Bitcoin initiative under the handle @meonbtc, signaling that it sees Bitcoin collectibles as a distinct business line rather than a minor product extension. The move comes as the broader market continues to test what NFTs and digital artifacts on Bitcoin can become, both culturally and commercially.
For now, the launch underscores a simple reality: Bitcoin Ordinals have attracted enough momentum to draw major NFT infrastructure providers into the space. As wallet tools improve, marketplace competition intensifies, and more collections appear, the next phase of the Bitcoin NFT market will likely be shaped by usability, liquidity, and evolving standards around creator compensation. Magic Eden’s entry does not settle those questions, but it does show that the sector has become too large for leading marketplaces to ignore.