Bitcoin Runes Passes Over 50M Entries In Less Than Five Months: ITB

In less than five months since its launch on the Bitcoin network, the Runes protocol has reached a milestone, surpassing 50 million inscriptions.

Market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock tweeted that, while the initial ad activity may be fading, the milestone indicates continued usage.

Runes has exceeded 50M printed tokens

Runes are a Bitcoin token standard that allows you to create coins on the network. Developed by Ordinals creator Casey Rodermore, it allows users to create their own tokens on Bitcoin, something that was not possible years ago. The protocol is designed to improve upon the BRC-20 standard for creating and managing valuable tokens.

Bitcoin users can create runs using the network's Unsigned Transaction Output (UTXO) model and the OP_RETURN opcode. Creating a rune is called etching and it involves setting the properties which will not change after completion. After locking the rune, the user can query it by extracting it.

IntoTheBlock revealed that Bitcoin users spend approximately 500,000 Runes every day. This constant activity and initial hype contributed to the protocol surpassing an estimated 50 million tokens in five months.

Decrease in activity and income

Rodermore and his team launched Runes during the Bitcoin halving in April at block 840,000. Following the activation of the protocol, investors engaged in frenzy, resulting in increased transaction fees and higher revenues for Bitcoin miners.

Runes alone accounted for $62.4 million of Bitcoin's half-day revenue, and the total daily transaction fee rose to $81 million, with the average transaction fee rising to $128.

During the first week after the protocol's launch, the boom continued, with miners taking control of the Bitcoin network through run-related transactions and earning huge profits. However, in the following weeks, Runes Protocol activity fell sharply, resulting in a decline of approximately $1 million in revenue and transaction fees.

Since then, activity on the Runes Protocol has remained low. Data from Dune Analytics shows that on September 4th, Runes made up 3.2% of all Bitcoin transactions, which is in stark contrast to the 81.3% transaction share seen on April 23rd.