TL;DR
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ICYMI the Rune protocol is a brand new venture by the creator of Bitcoin Ordinals (we wrote about the way it works right here) that launched similtaneously the BTC halving.
Like Ordinals, it lets individuals ‘etch’ (i.e. mint) tokens on-chain.
The 2 primary variations are:
Ordinals are ‘non-fungible’ (one-of-a-kind) whereas Runes can help you create fungible tokens on the Bitcoin community.
This opens up all types of prospects like stablecoins constructed on high of BTC, or new kinds of governance tokens.
The Rune protocol reduces the quantity of ‘Unspent Transaction Outputs’ (UTXO’s – extra on that right here).
In principle this implies much less congestion on the Bitcoin community, which ought to end in cheaper transaction charges.
Earlier than the halving there was a ton of pleasure about Runes so it’s no shock that inside the first few days there are already a couple of hundred Runes tasks.
The wonderful thing about Runes to date (and Ordinals that got here earlier than it) is that it has result in a rise within the variety of builders enthusiastic about contributing the the Bitcoin venture once more.
Sadly, only a few blocks after the halving, Runes minters have already paid over $5M USD in transaction charges.
Because the mud settles, and the primary mover benefit fades over time, it is going to be fascinating to see if Runes is the following narrative to push BTC again to it’s all time highs.
Can it stay as much as the hype?
Solely time will inform.