In the wake of the Bitcoin halving on April 19, the price of BTC has failed to maintain its upward trajectory, but the network has continued to generate headlines and transactions in equal measure. Much of this activity has been thanks to Bitcoin Runes, the protocol created by Ordinals imagineer Casey Rodarmor which went live post-halving.
Runes have been
Unlike other Bitcoin token standards, Rune uses the same UTXO model as BTC itself. This results in more efficient transaction ordering and UTXO management. As a result, bitcoiners can enjoy experimenting with memecoins and other tokens without congesting the network in the process.
According to COO Alvin Kan, there are several reasons why Runes have proven so popular straight out the gate, racking up 300 BTC in trading volume within the protocol’s first 24 hours. He points to Runes’ status as the leading Bitcoin tokenization protocol, prompting a string of platforms and wallets to quickly roll out support. The fact that many Runes projects have airdropped tokens to existing Ordinals holders has also helped onboard bitcoiners in their droves.
While the uptick in network activity has been good for miners, who’ve pocketed tens of millions of dollars in additional fees, users have been obliged to pay over the odds to have transactions processed. Alvin notes that fees spiked to as high as 2,000 sats/byte as Runes interest reached fever pitch. The activity was particularly intense due to developers competing to mint inscriptions in the first block published following the halving. Nevertheless, the Bitget Wallet COO believes that these teething problems can be overcome as fees subside and developers take full advantage of Runes’ ability to deliver efficient UTXO usage.
“I’m confident of the future of the Runes Protocol,” said Alvin. “This is just the beginning of a global phenomenon that will surely be a prominent sector in web3 for innovation.”
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