The Weekly Stack: Just in - Special Sats 💫
Welcome to Gamma's weekly newsletter, where we share all the latest news and alpha on Bitcoin and Ordinals. Subscribe so you never miss an issue!
3 New Special Sat features…
Today, we're rolling out our biggest release in months — one that will foster a whole new dimension to creating and collecting art on Bitcoin. And it all begins with the humble sat...
What are special sats?
Before diving into special sats at large, let's get a quick TL;DR on "rare sats"—these sats are special in how they relate to Bitcoin mining. For instance, you may have heard of an "Uncommon sat" which represent the first sat within each Bitcoin block.
Rare sats are just one type of special sat. And sats can be special in lots of ways. For example, they may have been used in famous historical transactions, like Pizza sats, which were those used in the first IRL purchase of a physical good with Bitcoin — pizza! 🍕
Special sats can also be special as they relate to a significant period in time. As another example, sats mined in 2009 are special in that they were mined the first year Bitcoin was live. More specifically, Block 9 sats represent the earliest sats in circulation today.
Each sat also has an deterministically assigned name and number, either of which might carry some meaning when choosing what to inscribe upon. The point is, special sats can add another dimension to the story you're telling with your creation, like a special canvas for your artwork.
Special sats on Gamma
We've taken our time to release a special sats offering because we wanted to make sure it captured the essence of what makes sat hunting, collecting, and inscribing so...special.
Today, we're sharing not one, but three ways we've seamlessly integrated specials sats into Gamma:
Individual inscriptions on special sats
Now, if you want to create an individual inscription on Gamma for yourself or to sell in the future, you can select any UTXO/special sat when doing so. We show you each sat's name, number, the date and block it was minted, and more.
Collecting on special sats
If you're a collector, you might want to make the piece you're collecting more special by inscribing it upon a sat you find special. You might choose to inscribe an artpiece on an Uncommon rare sat, like the one shown here.
Special sat mints
The real fun is unlocked with Special sat mints—where creators send their collectors sat hunting for a specific type of sat that can be used to mint their collection. Special sat mints require special sats to be selected when minting.
Special sat mints can be defined by creators in just a few clicks, and can be mixed and matched. As an example, you could require collectors to bring a Black uncommon palindrome sat originating before January 2014.
To mint during a special sat mint, you'll need to bring your own sat. You can discover and buy special sats on special sat marketplaces like our friends, Magisat.io. There, you can hunt and find sats matching specific criteria or find common collections of sats.
For the next few hours, you can mint the very first collection to use our Special Sat mint feature, Give Flowers by Boozy. Bring your own pizza sat! 🍕
May Live Creator Session
Our May Live Creator Session featuring Partner Artists Empress Trash, Arno Carstens, and Boozy is starting on Discord at 2pm PST — join below:
Partner of the Week - 8th Project
Welcome to another Featured Artist of the Week, a series highlighting remarkable artists creating Ordinals through the Gamma Partner Program! Today, meet 8th Project, a self-taught French artist currently living in Mexico.
8th draws heavy inspiration from abstract painter Kandinsky, infusing his work with his own imaginative twists. While he acknowledges the unique frictions that come with putting art on Bitcoin, he thoroughly enjoys this challenge as it enriches his approach to digital art.
For 8th, creating art for is akin to meditation; it acts as both a catalyst and an amplifier for his emotions
In a recent conversation with 8th Project, he discussed his artistic journey from the physical to the digital space. Read the full interview here:
Ordinals Spotlight: Photography 📸
In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce produced the earliest surviving photograph using heliography. Louis Daguerre's invention of the daguerreotype in 1839 furthered the evolution of photography. Innovations like the collodion process and the advent of flexible film in the late 1800s transformed the medium again.
The 20th century introduced color photography and digital imaging, paving the way for widespread adoption of photography in art and daily life. Now, we have extremely powerful cameras in our pockets – our mobile phones.
Fast forward to 2023 and Ordinals. Photographers can now directly preserve their work on Bitcoin by inscribing these captured moments onto the blockchain itself, marking a new frontier in image archiving and distribution. It is almost poetic, preserving a moment in time onto the time-chain that is Bitcoin.
Meet four photographers who have preserved their legacy on Bitcoin: Giulio Aprin, Sean Longstreet, Timmboslice, and Sherie Ngigi on our blog down below:
Thanks for tuning in, we’ll see you next week!