Bitcoin Ordinals chief coder Casey Rodarmor has proposed a significant change to the software, which was met with mixed reactions among its growing user base.

In a Sept. 19 post on X (Twitter), Rodarmor specifically proposed changing the protocol’s numbering system to simplify the project’s codebase. The proposal would deprioritize the canonical numbering system that assigns unique numbers to inscriptions created on the Bitcoin network.

Since the protocol’s inception, each non-fungible token (NFT) created using Ordinals has been assigned a unique inscription number. These act similar to serial numbers and have been an important aspect of the asset’s identity.

Notably, lower-numbered inscriptions have been perceived as more valuable, making them sought after by collectors.

The Bitcoin Ordinals creator, however, believes that the effort to keep inscription numbers stable “hasn’t been worth it,” as it led to “ugly code” and has stalled development. He then proposed making inscription numbers “permanently unstable, ” retroactively and on an ongoing basis.

“This would substantially simplify the ord codebase, make it easier to produce an implementation that assigns the same sequence numbers, and make future protocol changes easier,” Rodarmor wrote.

The chief coder clarified that while inscription numbers would change, it would not “entirely go away.”

“New inscription numbers would be close to old inscription numbers, perhaps only differing by 1% or so,” he wrote.

The proposal was met with mixed reactions among the Bitcoin Ordinals community. One user on the GitHub discussion board who agreed with the proposal said that “cursed inscriptions were always a bad idea for many reasons.” They explained that inscriptions should be strictly derived from on-chain ordering if there is an off-chain vanity number assigned to every inscription.

Meanwhile, another user said that while they “strongly support” the proposal, arguing that the viability and maintainability of the protocol are the most important things, the changes should be communicated better, especially for non-technical people.

Some users raised concerns about the impact of the reorganization of numbers on their collectibles, which they had paid a significant amount for. However, another community member on X pointed out that those who are particular about the numbering of their inscriptions can still sort the collectibles by their timestamps.

Bitcoin Ordinals is a method for generating NFTs by inscribing into a satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. It was introduced in January 2023. In August, popular NFT figure Leonidas said the protocol accounted for 84.9% of the activity on the Bitcoin network.