Ethereum’s Ethscriptions: A Revolutionary Way To Create & Share Digital Artifacts

June 17, 2023 by Mishal Ali

Middlemarch, a co-founder of NFT infrastructure Capsule 21, has recently unveiled an innovative Ethereum-based inscription system called Ethscriptions. 

This new system allows users to create and share digital artifacts through Ethereum transaction call data, similar to Bitcoin inscriptions. Middlemarch has announced plans to open-source the indexer in the near future.

The announcement was made on Twitter, where Middlemarch expressed excitement about the launch of Ethscriptions. The tweet read, “Introducing Ethscriptions: a new way of creating and sharing digital artifacts on Ethereum using transaction calldata.” 

Middlemarch also acknowledged the contributions of Michael Hirsch, the founder of Indelible_Labs, for helping build the front end and @duvtale for selecting the vibrant background color (#c3ff00).

Creating & Sharing Digital Artifacts On Ethereum With Ethscriptions

So how exactly do Ethscriptions work? The process is quite intriguing. Any successful Ethereum transaction that contains input data interpreted as a valid data URI can create an Ethscription as long as the data URI is unique. Duplicate content is automatically disregarded. 

Furthermore, Ethscriptions support all valid mime-types, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of digital files.

To maintain uniqueness, an Ethscription’s content must not match that of any previous Ethscription from a previous block or a transaction within the same block. 

It ensures that each Ethscription represents a distinct digital artifact. Additionally, any Ethereum transaction whose input data corresponds to the transaction hash of a valid Ethscription is considered a valid Ethscription transfer as long as the transaction’s sender is the Ethscription’s owner. 

The recipient of the creation transaction determines the initial owner of an Ethscription, while the sender of the creation transaction is recognized as the Ethscription’s creator.

According to the original site page providing information on Ethscriptions, getting started with this new system is relatively straightforward. Users can either utilize an easy creation tool available on the site or follow a step-by-step process. 

To create an Ethscription manually, one can convert an image (with a maximum size of approximately 90KB) into a Base 64-encoded data URI using a service like base64-image.de. 

Although Ethscriptions support all data URIs, images tend to yield the best results. The data URI should then be converted to hex using an online tool such as hexhero. 

Finally, users can send a 0 ETH transaction to the desired recipient, including the hex data from the previous step in the “Hex data” field. Within a short period, the Ethscription should appear on the page, provided no one has already created an Ethscription with the same data. The system automatically filters out duplicate content.

However, as Middlemarch opens up the indexer to the public, it is expected to further empower artists and collectors in the world of NFTs, fostering creativity and innovation within the digital art community.

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