Runes: The New Bitcoin Token Standard Dominating Network Transactions
Summary:
Since its introduction following Bitcoin's halving event on April 20, the new Bitcoin token standard – Runes – has dominated transactions, accounting for over two-thirds of the total. Controversially, this innovation, created by Casey Rodarmor, is seen by some as diverting Bitcoin from its original function as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
The introduction of Runes, a new Bitcoin token standard, has dominated Bitcoin transactions since its inception after the network's halving event on April 20 - accounting for more than two-thirds of transactions. Over 2.38 million Runes transactions have been processed to date, making up 68% of total Bitcoin transactions during this period, as reported by Crypto Koryo using a Dune Analytics dashboard. A diverse range of transaction types, including standard Bitcoin P2P, BRC-20s, Ordinals, and Runes, were included in the total figures.
Data from Dune Analytics reveals that Runes' peak day was on April 23, with over 750,000 transactions. However, the figure dropped by more than half to 312,000 transactions the following day. Initial demand, notably from enthusiasts of memecoin and nonfungible tokens eager to trace and engrave rare satoshis via the Runes protocol, led to Runes transactions making up almost 70% of miner fees on halving day. This daily rate has since seen numerous changes, ranging from 33% to 69%.
There are varying opinions within the industry regarding the potential of Runes to maintain a steady revenue stream for Bitcoin miners. This is largely due to the existing mismatch between the volume of Rune transactions and the miner fees generated from these transactions.
The protocol's creator, Casey Rodarmor, who also invented Ordinals, positions Runes as a more effective method of generating new tokens on the Bitcoin network in comparison to the BRC-20 token standard, another Ordinal-based approach for producing Bitcoin tokens.
However, the significant amount of block space consumed by Runes transactions has resulted in criticism from some quarters. Leading the opposition is Nikita Zhavoronkov, lead developer at the blockchain search engine Blockchair. He argues that Bitcoin's original function as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, as envisioned by its anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has been entirely abandoned as a result of these trends.
Published At
4/25/2024 8:44:00 AM
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