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 responsible for $135M in miner fees in the wake of the halving, proving their ability to subsidize reduced block rewards moving forwards. While it remains to be seen whether the robust interest in Runes can be maintained, the signs are promising so far. One figure who’s predicting a bright future for Bitcoin Runes is Alvin Kan. The Bitget Wallet COO has been following the sector closely due to its integration into the wallet’s dapp browser.
Making Sense of Runes
Runes were designed to support fungible tokens on Bitcoin without clogging up the network. They’re a more efficient and natively integrated solution than BRC20, which has been the dominant fungible token standard up until now. Runes have the potential to do for tokens on Bitcoin what Ordinals did for NFTs.
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.
Bitget Wallet has long been a supporter of Bitcoin innovation, having been quick to endorse Ordinals and BRC20s. It’s one of the first wallets to have integrated Runes, allowing users of the non-custodial wallet to buy and sell Runes assets using the built-in dapp browser.
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.
Putting a Price on Bitcoin Fees
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.”
