Bitcoin Runes Transactions Are Taking Over the Network—And Dominating BRC-20

Bitcoin Runes are dominating Bitcoin blockchain activity, with over 81% of transactions on Tuesday being Rune etchings, according to a Dune report. Regular Bitcoin transactions represented 19% of the transactions, meanwhile, with BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals coming in a distance third and fourth at 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

BREAKING: Runes accounted for 72.7% of all Bitcoin transactions in the past 24 hours

— Ord.io (@ord_io) April 24, 2024

According to the Dune dashboard, 750,428 Runes transactions accrued on Tuesday, followed by 174,475 “Good old BTC” transactions. 1,392 BRC-20 transactions took place, followed by 715 Ordinal transactions.

Runes also accounted for 64% of fees collected on Tuesday with 2,075 BTC, around $133 million in total fees.

Since the launch of the Runes protocol alongside the Bitcoin halving, 692,480 users have etched 7,995 Runes, the report notes, with a combined 3.1 million transactions related to Runes.

On Wednesday, for example, the Rune collection DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG) airdropped 100 billion Runes to eligible wallets, amassing a $336 million market capitalization according to data from Bitcoin Runes marketplace Magic Eden.

While the novelty of Runes plays a factor in the surge in activity, also contributing was the race to be one of the first to etch the first batch of Runes, which are believed to be able to fetch a heftier price because of their rarity and age.

“For reference, an uncommon sat will go for $200 to $500 depending on market variations; rare sats we’ve seen go for up to three Bitcoin ($193,242),” Luxor mining pool CEO Nick Hansen previously told Decrypt. “But it is a logarithmic scale.

“We think most likely the epic [sat] is going to be to the tune of $4 to $6 million—[that’s] probably the market value for that,” Hansen continued.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.

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