Jeff - Merlin Chain retweeted
Merlin Monday is back with @JeffBTC from @MerlinLayer2 for a full year end review of 2025 and a look at what is coming in 2026. Then we get straight into the big question, are Ordinals dead or just evolving.
Jeff breaks down how the ecosystem has changed, what still matters, and why builders are focused on real utility. We also dig into the alternate timeline question, if @rodarmor never created Runes, would BRC20 have actually succeeded.
Then we get into one of the biggest wins of the year, how @coinbase perpetual futures trading for Merlin Chain $MERL came together and why it is such a major milestone. We close with the direction Merlin is heading next, what needs to happen for a true 10x from here, and final words from Jeff.
⏱️ Time Stamps - OnChain Revolution Show
00:00:00 - Intro to Merlin Monday
00:03:30 - Jeff joins the show
00:04:00 - Jeff reflects on the year Merlin had in 2025
00:06:15 - Are Ordinals dead?
00:13:00 - If Casey never created Runes, would BRC20 have succeeded?
00:24:45 - How Coinbase perpetual futures trading for Merlin Chain $MERL happened, and why it is a massive accomplishment
00:29:43 - The direction Merlin is heading next
00:32:30 - What needs to happen for Merlin to 10x from here
00:35:30 - Final words from Jeff
00:37:00 - Wrap up + massive thanks to our partners, your support keeps this thing alive 💛
哥们，btcfi是今天为数不多跑出来的真叙事。上百亿的BTC在各个链流通，打通dex和桥的流动性，在eth bsc sol sui真实资产真实交易真实收益，bn钱包都有收益，lending几十亿美金的btc借贷资产，perp dex的btc lp。我很自豪我们推动了btcfi，现在没人说“我不敢质押btc”“btcfi rug我”了
Why is Ordinals dying?
It started with putting content on Bitcoin Layer 1, which was a fun idea at that time and BRC-20 brought the explosion. But now everybody knows 'Ordinals are dead', without even saying it.
Who is the 'winner'?
People who made fake narratives, stole people's money like those 'swap on layer 1' (I am saying those projects only have words not actual products).
People who created jpg for sale, like 0.1 btc per jpg, and made thousands of Bitcoin in 1 day.
KOL who got paid and only shill those junk.
People who continued to print new assets and made money on those.
Who suffered?
Builders who built actual products like Unisat or GeniiData or IDclub. Those builders can't rob others, so they gradually just quit this ecosystem.
Users who actually had fun, using products, making friends, staying creative, those people I missed the most but also suffered the most.
Everybody who loved the game and participated for fun not for short term money, they all suffered.
I talked to many builders through out the years, and they somehow all 'hated' this toxic environment.
Too many politics. I talked to Casey about Bitmap 2 years ago at the Ordinals Summit, nobody cared. I am the biggest sponsor for every Ordinals Summit btw. Also I made 2 donation to DOG airdrop, the community don't care too. 'Major' podcasts / twitter spaces never talked about Bitmap, or what we built at all.
Too much shilling about fake ideas, by those 'builders' who never built actual stuff. They claimed they have the 'best technology' and continue to share 'dreams' about 'decentralized solution + smart contract on L1', lol, never succeeded. They criticized Merlin will rug all those Bitcoin, and now we survived and their project is gone.
They raised money from ICO. They raised money from minting. They made thousands of Bitcoin and stay 'legit and OG' of Ordinals lol.
But yeah, now I don't care anymore. The ecosystem is dead. Scammers are long gone, some are still here trying to launch a new mint (they never do free mint lol). I am just glad we continued to build on Merlin, and now $MERL is 9x $DOG, 11x $ORDI, 30x $SATS, and better than those ICO/MINT projects who just rugged. Merlin Token is also free, all airdrop circulation for the users.
Ordinals Are Dead.
Why Ordinals, BRC-20 and Runes Died (and how to bring it back to life) 🧵
In the beginning it all felt like an opportunity. Low cost to entry. You could get an airdrop for making a single transaction on Ordinals Wallet (Pixel Pepe, Space Pepe). You could inscribe $100 in transaction fees for ORDI or BITMAP mints and have infinite upside. The vibes were insanely high, and there was a big enough market to support the few good ideas that existed.
Then big names came in and started to sell things at extremely high costs. Mints that costed 5 figures to enter (OMB, BTC DeGods, Yuga Labs, etc.,). Then Runes hit the scene, inflating attention in a market with too few participants. Nobody knew where to look: backwards towards their Ordinals and BRC-20 bags, or forwards towards the new Runes scene.
It went from a market with a few good ideas with infinite upside to an over-inflated space where nobody knew where to give their attention and focus.
Now we are seeing the results of moving from an experimental scene with cool ideas that people could speculate on --> to exponential greed and clout chasing. Prices of expensive mints are falling below 50% of mint price (Taproot Wizards, NodeMonkes), some of them went essentially straight to $0 (twelvefold, BTC DeGods) as there's zero liquidity for these collections.
Some of you will have to come to terms with the reality that many of these collections will never return to their highest values. Others have potential, but founders will have to come out of retirement to spend some of those millions they extracted and give it back to the community.
The only way Ordinals comes back is if the opportunity returns, and the vibes feel like they did – upside, fun, new ideas, exciting propositions for people.
It's time for everyone to come to terms with the reality that nonstop extraction doesn't lead to new participants looking to come in. We need to bring back airdrops, free mints and fun memes or this space will be dead forever.
No, it's not going to come back if we do nothing and wait for "retail" and hype.
No one is coming to buy your bags. We have to create the opportunity.
Okay, this was recorded 3 months ago, and I lost 25 pounds since..
📌 KBW에서 KING 을 만나다 - Merlin Chain Jeff 사장님
📷 KING 이란? @ROKMCFIREANT l @Edward__Park l @eBlockmedia l @tokenpost l @Bridge34__ 가 크립토 시장의 리더들과 함께 다양한 대화를 나누고 그들의 생각을 알아보는 자리입니다.
✅ KING Event 에어드랍 미션
1. @ROKMCFIREANT l @Edward__Park 불개미, 코같투 트위터 팔로우
2. 해당 게시물 좋아요, 리트윗, 댓글
3. 해당 폼 작성 : forms.gle/E3KWrNwD6ezNPzYA6
💵 Merlin chain편 에어드랍 : 1만원 상품권 x 300명
* 하락장을 맞이하여 긴급 재난지원금을 살포합니다!
