Key Points
- Runes, a new token standard on Bitcoin, has accounted for over two-thirds of Bitcoin transactions since its launch on April 20.
- Industry experts are divided on whether Runes will provide a sustainable revenue stream for Bitcoin miners.
Runes, a recently introduced token standard on Bitcoin, has made up a significant proportion of transactions on the network since its inception following the network’s halving event on April 20.
According to data from a Dune Analytics dashboard shared by blockchain research firm Crypto Koryo, more than 2.38 million Runes transactions have been processed. This accounts for 68% of all Bitcoin transactions made since its launch on April 20.
Transaction Breakdown
The total transaction count included regular Bitcoin peer-to-peer transactions, BRC-20s, Ordinals, and Runes.
The day of April 23 marked the highest activity for Runes with over 750,000 transactions, although this figure fell by more than half the following day to 312,000 transactions. A significant portion of the initial demand at block 840,000 came from enthusiasts of memecoin and nonfungible tokens who were eager to inscribe and etch “rare satoshis” via the Runes protocol.
As a result, Runes transactions made up nearly 70% of miner fees on the halving day. Since then, the daily figure has varied between 33% and 69%.
Controversy and Criticism
However, opinions are divided within the industry as to whether Runes will offer a sustainable revenue source for Bitcoin miners. There is already a discrepancy between the number of Rune transactions and the miner fees earned from Runes.
The new protocol, developed by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor, is being promoted as a more efficient method of creating new tokens on the Bitcoin network compared to the BRC-20 token standard, an Ordinals-based method for creating Bitcoin-based tokens.
Despite this, some are dissatisfied with the amount of block space occupied by Runes transactions in recent days. Among these critics is Nikita Zhavoronkov, a lead developer at blockchain search engine Blockchair, who believes Bitcoin has “completely ceased” to function as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, as initially envisioned by its pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.