Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards saw robust uptake for its inaugural "Quantum Cats" digital-art sale on Monday, despite severe tech issues that delayed the planned mint three times last week.

All 3,000 of the NFT-like collectibles in the series had sold by the end of a public mint on Monday, at a fixed price of 0.1 BTC ($4,265) each – for total revenue of nearly $13 million.

Such proceeds easily exceeded the $7.5 million that Taproot Wizards raised last year from investors, amid a wave of enthusiasm for the Ordinals inscriptions, sometimes referred to as "NFTs on Bitcoin." Most of the images were sold to whitelisted investors who were given access during a five-hour exclusive buying window on Monday, and then 313 of them sold out during the first two seconds of the public mint, according to the team.

The Quantum Cats sale kicked off last Monday but was paused due to technical problems that prevented buyers from completing their purchases, causing frustration and leading to widespread complaints on a Discord channel for the project.

Taproot Wizards officials, led by co-founders Udi Wertheimer and Eric Wall, postponed the resumption of the mint twice more, saying that despite having fixed the issues, more time was needed for additional testing.

Based on the results, the collectors – or speculators – appear to have been undeterred by the inauspicious start.

"We knew that the demand was high," Wertheimer told CoinDesk told Monday in a Telegram chat. "We’re just pleased we’re able to provide a smooth experience for our community today."

the Quantum Cats have sold out!

313 cats sold out within 2 seconds during the public mint!

distribution of the cats to wallets is planned for tomorrow, alongside refunds for any overpayment.

thank you for your incredible support this past few weeks 🧡

GMEOW pic.twitter.com/mo0SXrNT8x
— Quantum Cats (@QuantumCatsXYZ) February 5, 2024

The Ordinals protocol and its "inscriptions" – launched in early 2023 by creator Casey Rodarmor – effectively allows NFTs to be minted and stored on the Bitcoin blockchain.

While the Bitcoin community is somewhat divided on the potential ramifications of the surging minting activity, which at times has created congestion on the network and driven up fees, many crypto experts argue that the trend has brought a newfound energy to the pace of development on the oldest original blockchain.

Read More: Casey Rodarmor: The Bitcoin Artist

UPDATE (23:55 UTC): Adds details from the public mint, including final sale amounts.

Ordinals Ordinals protocol Bitcoin NFTs Taproot wizards

Jamie Crawley

Jamie joined CoinDesk as a news reporter in February 2021 after writing widely about crypto and blockchain for two years in other roles. Away from crypto, Jamie runs a lot and loves all things sport. He holds small amounts of BTC, ETH, ADA and LTC.

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is CoinDesk's managing editor of tech & protocols, where he oversees a team of reporters covering blockchain technology, and previously ran the global crypto markets team. A two-time Loeb Awards finalist, he previously was chief global finance and economic correspondent for TheStreet and before that worked as an editor and reporter for Bloomberg News in New York and Mexico City, reporting on Wall Street, emerging markets and the energy industry. He started out as a police-beat reporter for the Gainesville Sun in Florida and later worked as a general-assignment reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, he double-majored in electrical engineering and classical studies as an undergraduate at Duke University and later obtained a master's in journalism from the University of Florida. He is currently based in Austin, Texas, and in his spare time plays guitar, sings in a choir and hikes in the Texas Hill Country. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.