Why The Bitcoin Runes Protocol Fascinates... And Already Disappoints!

The Bitcoin network, long perceived as a purely monetary platform, has just reached a new milestone with the emergence of the Runes protocol. In just five months, it has surpassed 50 million registrations. This figure is a testament to the enthusiasm generated by innovations around fungible tokens on Bitcoin.

Massive adoption in less than five months

Launched during the last Bitcoin halving in April 2024, the Runes protocol quickly captured the attention of users. In five months, over 50 million registrations have been recorded on the network. Bitcoin Runes allows users to create fungible tokens on the network. This functionality was previously limited. Its success is notably due to the use of Bitcoin’s UTXO model. This model allows users to “etch” tokens and define their properties immutably. This process is called “etching.” Once this step is completed, the token is then available to be claimed via the minting process.

On average, 500,000 Runes are created daily. This pace reflects the interest in this new token standard. Developed by Casey RODARMOR, who is also behind the Ordinals, Runes responds to certain limitations of the BRC-20 standard, known for its cumbersome management and associated costs.

A slowdown after the initial euphoria

After this rapid adoption phase, activity on the Runes protocol has seen a notable decline. Transactions related to Runes accounted for 81.3% of Bitcoin transactions on April 23, 2024, but this share dropped to 3.2% in September. This decline reflects market saturation or a decrease in user interest. The revenue generated by the protocol has also dropped. During the halving, Runes transactions generated 62.4 million dollars in network fees, a windfall for Bitcoin miners. However, these revenues have currently fallen to around 1 million dollars per day.

This drop in activity is partly due to high initial costs and the complexity of transactions associated with Runes. They discouraged many users after the excitement of the early days. Nevertheless, the adoption of Runes could still grow with the improvement of tools and better integration into the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Although registrations have surpassed a symbolic threshold in record time, the current slowdown could be temporary. Runes could thus play a key role in the evolution of Bitcoin, provided they overcome current obstacles and prove their long-term viability.