Runes Protocol Activity Drop Signals Possible Shift in Bitcoin Token Standard

The Runes Protocol activity on the Bitcoin blockchain has experienced a noticeable decline since its launch three weeks ago, especially since May 10. New mints and wallets showed very little interaction with the protocol compared to previous periods.

According to an analytics dashboard from Dune Analytics, compiled by the creators of Runes, there has been a steady decline in revenue from the protocol.

Significant downward trend marked

Runes, which allows users to create fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, still generates hundreds of thousands of dollars every day. However, in the last twelve days, total fees have risen above $1 million only twice, marking a significant downward trend.

The innovative token standard, designed by Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor, was a huge success when it debuted on April 19. The protocol caused a rise in transaction fees and generated more than $135 million in fees for Bitcoin miners in the first week of launch. Runes initially dominated transactions on the Bitcoin network, peaking at 81.3% on April 23.

After a period of decline in transaction activity until May 2, Runes’ recovery began on May 3, bringing its transaction share back above 60% on May 4 and 5. Despite this temporary uptick, total daily revenue for Bitcoin miners fell below $30 million in May.

New token standards via Runes protocol

The Runes Protocol, like Ordinals, unlocks new token standards on the Bitcoin blockchain and provides a more efficient tokenization solution than BRC20, which has led to an increase in memecoin trading on Bitcoin. Despite the challenges in gaining initial traction, several Rune collections have already reached market caps in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Magic Eden.

Additionally, at a recent Ordinals event in Hong Kong, Casey Rodarmor unveiled plans for an innovative audio-reactive generative art project, highlighting the platform’s versatile potential.