The initial euphoria surrounding the Runes protocol, a new mechanism to create tokens on Bitcoin, appears to be waning. Dune Analytics data suggests that activity on the protocol has dropped significantly after its first week of trading.
Runes, founded by Casey Rodarmor, the developer of Ordinals, was launched on April 20, the same day as Bitcoin’s latest halving, causing a frenzy among speculators. This resulted in a significant increase in Bitcoin transaction fees and record-breaking earnings for Bitcoin miners, whose income had dropped dramatically following the halving.
On May 10, there were few new tokens minted (produced), and few new wallets engaging with Runes. This indicates that the number of people using it has significantly decreased. Runes’ fees have likewise steadily declined. The total fees crossed $1 million only twice in the last 12 days, a significant decrease from the $135 million received in the first week.
Initially, runes transactions dominated the Bitcoin network, accounting for more than 81% of all transactions on April 23. But their percentage has steadily declined since then. However, Runes has achieved significant success, with some Rune collections valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Magic Eden data.
As the initial excitement wears off, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are eager to see what Rodarmor does next, including an art piece he announced at an Ordinals event in Hong Kong.
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