Coinspeaker
Bitcoin Runes Activity Plummets after Generating $135M in Fees
The Bitcoin Runes protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform introduced on April 19 to provide a new way of creating fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, has seen a significant drop in activity despite a promising beginning.
Initially, on April 24, activity on the Bitcoin-based protocol surged, making up about 57% of all transactions recorded in the ecosystem after the 2024 halving event. The protocol’s impressive launch led to record fees for Bitcoin miners as eager investors competed for block space during the halving event.
In its first week alone, Runes generated approximately $107 million in transactions in a single day and $135 million in Bitcoin transactions on a weekly basis. However, after weeks of attracting investor attention, the enthusiasm surrounding the protocol appears to have waned amidst the current market downturn.
Runes Protocol Faces Decline since May 10
According to on-chain data from crypto analytics firm Dune, activities on the Runes protocol have “dropped dramatically”, hitting their lowest level since May 10. This decline could be attributed to various factors, including fewer new mints and a decrease in new wallets interacting with the protocol since its April debut, reducing generated fees.
Since then, the protocol has continued to experience low engagement, reducing its market share of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Data from Dune shows that despite recording thousands of transactions daily, Runes has struggled to reach another $1 million milestone in daily transaction fees. In the past 12 days, the protocol has only surpassed $1 million in transaction fees twice.
The data also revealed a significant decrease in total Runes minted, dropping from 23,061 on April 26 to just 62 this month. Similarly, fees earned from Runes plummeted from a peak of $321,263 on April 26 to only $970.
Until May 5, the protocol accounted for less than 30% of all transactions on the Bitcoin network in terms of transaction volume. In contrast, last month was the peak period for the Runes network, with the protocol recording a substantial 77% and 69% of transaction volume on April 20 and April 23, respectively.
Runes NFT Collections Hit Over $100M Market Caps
Despite the recent decrease in activity on the Runes network, the protocol continues to stand out, with various non-fungible token (NFT) collections on the platform already surpassing market caps exceeding $100 million.
According to data from Magic Eden, an NFT marketplace, some of the Runes collections, such as DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON, PUBS.WORLD.PEACE, and EPIC.EPIC.EPIC has market capitalizations of $2.44 billion, $171.60 million, and $37.78 million, respectively.
On May 11, Casey Rodarmor, the developer behind both Runes and Bitcoin Ordinals, hinted at a new NFT project during an event in Asia. The software engineer said he is working on a new audioreactive generative art project.
Bitcoin Runes Activity Plummets after Generating $135M in Fees
