Crypto Mystery Deepens with 21,000 Ordinal Inscriptions Airdropped in Enigmatic Bitcoin Game

In a mysterious development, someone has airdropped 21,000 digital inscriptions, known as RSICs, to the Bitcoin Ordinals community as part of a Bitcoin game promotion.

The message on one of the inscriptions suggests a “technological arms race” related to securing a bag of runes has begun, and the RSICs are designed for this purpose.

“This is the first-ever rune on bitcoin,” the inscription added.

The group behind the airdrop calls itself Runecoin. Still, it appears not to be affiliated with the original Runes concept by Casey Rodarmor, the man known as the founder of Bitcoin Ordinals.

According to Runecoin rules, all 21,000 RSIC inscriptions were initially manufactured but can no longer be produced due to a mysterious explosion at the factory and distribution centers.

RSIC holders are given three options: mine runes, sell RSICs on the market, or let their RSICs fade.

Runecoin reserved 10% of the RSICs for the game’s designers.

The game has already drawn both excitement and skepticism, with over 33 BTC traded so far.

Social Media Controversy over Bitcoin Ordinals

Among users on social media, however, some have questioned the airdrop’s claims, particularly the claim that it is the “first-ever rune on bitcoin.”

“It obviously is not the first Rune on Bitcoin and Casey has stated multiple times that no Runes are Runes until the protocol actually drops,” the popular X user Leonidas said, before adding:

“This is a clear red flag for me so I would advise people to be cautious and recommend the project drops the false claim.”

The way the RSIC airdrop by @rune_coin was done is really neat and I hope airdropping to the Ordinals community becomes a trend but this type of marketing needs to be called out:

“This is the first ever rune on bitcoin”

It obviously is not the first Rune on Bitcoin and Casey…

— Leonidas (@LeonidasNFT) January 22, 2024

Similarly, Jake Gallen, a crypto podcast host and product manager at Emblem Vault, also expressed concerns about the lack of transparency and misinformation in marketing the RSICs and the Bitcoin game.

He emphasized the importance of doing thorough research before participating in such projects, saying “there is absolutely no guarantee this will be the first-ever rune, nor does this team have any clue as to what the final protocol will look like.”

So let me get this straight….

A project called RSIC airdropped 80% of a 21,000 supply to Bitcoin Puppets, Bitcoin Frogs, NodeMonkes, and OMB holders. Then kept 20% of the supply.

The promise is "this is the first ever rune of Bitcoin".

If you listened to the most recent… pic.twitter.com/Eu0PZbRI7D

— jake.sats (@jakegallen_) January 22, 2024

Additionally, the identity of the Runecoin team remains unknown, leading to speculation and debates within the community.

In response to the confusion, the Runecoin X account clarified that the runes protocol has not been launched, and no runes have been etched. The account suggested that the airdrop was an experiment and encouraged the community to have fun with it.

The runes protocol has not launched yet and no runes have been etched. We think this is a fun distribution mechanism, which could be used for many things, including runes, and wanted to experiment and have fun with it. We hope you will too. 👨‍🍳

— Runecoin ▣⛏️ (@rune_coin) January 22, 2024