Casey Rodarmor's Runes protocol has surged to the forefront of transactional activity on the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. Since its launch on April 20, 2024, Bitcoin Runes has swiftly outpaced its predecessors, including the original Bitcoin, Ordinals, and BRC-20 tokens, in daily transactions on the BTC blockchain.
As per the data recorded by on-chain explorer Dune Analytics, transactions related to Runes have consistently outpaced those of other tokens, reaching a peak transaction share of 81.3% on April 23. This surge effectively relegated Bitcoin transactions to a mere 18.15%, with Ordinals and BRC-20 transactions trailing at 0.1% each.
However, following the initial frenzy surrounding Runes, the token standard experienced a decline in transaction volume over the following days, falling to its lowest on May 2. Fortunately, Runes embarked on the recovery journey in subsequent sessions. By May 5, Runes had again reclaimed over 60% of the transaction share.
The resurgence in Runes transactions has also led to a surge in network fees, resulting in substantial earnings for miners. This uptick in fees came at a time when Bitcoin miners were grappling with diminished earnings following the fourth Bitcoin halving, when the amount of Bitcoin tokens mined from a block was reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
