Toniq Labs Launches Bioniq Bitcoin NFT Marketplace

Quick take:

• Toniq Labs has launched the Bioniq Bitcoin NFT marketplace.
• The platform was created to simplify the process of buying and selling Bitcoin NFTs and help reduce Bitcoin congestion.
• Bioniq also offers a built-in wallet with smart wallet features and enables users to manage their private keys using Web3Auth.

Toniq Labs has launched Bioniq, a Bitcoin-based non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace touted to be the fastest for Ordinals trading on the Internet Computer (ICP). The platform leverages Web3Auth to allow users to manage their own private keys, enhancing the security of their assets in a non-custodial way. Web3Auth is an authenticator protocol that allows users to log in to the crypto wallets using email addresses.

Bioniq also offers a built-in wallet with smart wallet features, simplifying the process of buying and selling NFTs on Bitcoin. The platform leverages Internet Computer’s native Bitcoin integration, enabling users to sell, trade, or transfer their Bitcoin-based Ordinals and Inscriptions quickly and inexpensively.

With network fees on Bitcoin rising amid an influx of activity driven by increased minting of BRC-20 tokens and digital collectible inscriptions, Bioniq was created to reduce congestion on the network.

According to the BRC-20 website, the market capitalisation of BRC-20 tokens has already surpassed $3 billion, while a Dune Analytics dashboard by Dgtl_Assets indicates Ordinals inscriptions have exceeded 45 million, pushing network fees higher than those of Ethereum for the first time since 2020.

Bioniq counts some of the leading Web3-focused venture capital first among its backers including Polychain Capital, which in July 2023 raised $200 million for its fourth fund.

Bioniq leverages ICP’s native integration with Bitcoin to unlock smart contract capabilities for Bitcoin, allowing users to trade their assets within the ICP ecosystem, rather than relying on “Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions” (PSBTs).

Traders also benefit from fast transactions that last less than two seconds whilst capitalising on zero network fees.

Commenting on the launch, Bioniq Co-founder and CEO Bob Bodily said: “No major platform or marketplace has been developed yet dedicated to supporting the Bitcoin ordinals market on a separate Layer-1 without gas or network fees that can scale. Leveraging Bitcoin and PSBTs alone for marketplaces and DEXs [Decentralised Exchanges] makes trading and transferring ordinals slow and expensive.”

“While the new Ordinals movement will bring more utility to the BTC network, it also brings congestion and higher network fees. To solve these issues, we’ve designed Bioniq from the ground up as the fastest and easiest-to-use Bitcoin Ordinals marketplace, making the whole process as convenient, user-friendly, and secure as possible,” added Bodily.

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