Bitcoin Runes have surged to prominence in Bitcoin blockchain activity, accounting for more than 81% of transactions on Tuesday, as reported by Dune. Meanwhile, standard Bitcoin transactions made up 19% of the total, with BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals trailing far behind at 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.
What are Bitcoin Runes?
Bitcoin Runes are fungible assets created on the Bitcoin network using the Runes protocol. Similar to existing fungible tokens on Bitcoin, Runes are optimized for efficiency and immutability. Fungible tokens, including memecoins, serve various purposes within the blockchain ecosystem. Given Bitcoin's prominence, the introduction of native memecoins has a significant impact on the broader network.
Bitcoin Runes Activity
Based on data from the Dune dashboard, there were 750,428 transactions involving Runes on Tuesday, which far surpassed the 174,475 transactions involving standard Bitcoin ("Good old BTC"). Additionally, there were 1,392 transactions involving BRC-20 tokens and 715 transactions involving Ordinals.
Furthermore, Runes transactions contributed significantly to the collected fees on Tuesday, amounting to 64% of the total fees with 2,075 BTC, equivalent to approximately $133 million in fees. This underscores the substantial impact and dominance of Runes within the transactional and fee landscape of the Bitcoin blockchain on that day.
Since the introduction of the Runes protocol coinciding with the Bitcoin halving, a total of 692,480 users have engaged in 7,995 unique Rune etchings, leading to approximately 3.1 million related transactions, as highlighted in the report.
On Wednesday, one notable Rune collection called DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG) distributed 100 billion Runes via airdrop to eligible wallets, propelling its market capitalization to $336 million, as reported by the Bitcoin Runes marketplace Magic Eden.
The surge in activity can be attributed not only to the novelty of Runes but also to the competitive rush to be among the first to create the initial batch of Runes. These early Runes are anticipated to command higher prices due to their rarity and historical significance.
