I have some crypto philosophical questioning going on and it made me ponder this rather weird question. Ever since the November upgrade to Bitcoin two years ago, making an inscription to every single Satoshi became a reality. These inscriptions are what's referred to as BRC20 token which in their selves are for the most part pretty useless. There are some exceptions of course, but most of them are just pointless memes. But, if Bitcoin is or one day becomes the undisputed online equivalent to gold, aren't some BRC20s then the equivalent to those antique gold coins which by now surpassed their value in even gold and became rare collectibles? Like this 5.8 gram gold coin which for purely the gold in itself would be worth 365 Dollars, but is because of it's make, quality, scarcity and age is now worth 425 Dollars.
Is this what BRC20s will do with single Satoshis? In a larger sense they already have. Let's elaborate: One Sat will always be one Sat right? Meaning that for 0.000292 cents, you can today buy one Satoshi and be guaranteed there will never be more Satoshis printed. But now, one Sat as a BRC20 inscription as e.g. one Ordi is no longer worth 0.000292 cents but worth over 6 Dollars. So if you look at it that way yeah, BRC20s are unique in their own way and managed to add value to Satoshis the same way nationally minted gold coins did to gold, but here comes the million Satoshi question: Will they retain their value?
They key criteria to being a collectible is being unique. Yes being one of a kind and rare is what makes something a valuable collectible. No one wants to pay a small fortune and collect old stuff that can to this day be recreated and not distinctive from the original right? BRC20s with an infinite max supply are thus automatically disqualified from our hypothesis. They are like those gilded coins that say they are minted in "1908" but are just modern made copies of the original, except for the fact that with these BRC20s everything is a copy and there is no original.
No one thinks old collectible gold coins will become worthless over night. Their scarcity and personal desire for some to have some of the rarest ones with the best quality in their possession makes them pay the most ludicrous prices. And even if some debacle occurs and no one cares for old antique coins anymore they will forever still have their value in gold, meaning they will never really become "worthless". Like with the French coin for 425 Dollars, no one will today sell it for less than 365 Dollars because that's the price you'd get for just the weight in gold. But BRC20s don't have that guarantee. Some of them can even have an increase in supply today or have even more printed in the next few years, which is a major deal breaker for this BRC20/Gold coin theory. Ordi isn't like that though and has just like Bitcoin a 21 million limit, but if your 6 Dollar Ordi suddenly becomes worthless overnight and no one wants it anymore, you will be left with merely 0.000292 cents.
