Bitcoin’s Runes Protocol Faces Decline After Launch
Bitcoin's anticipated upgrade post-4/20 Halving took an unexpected turn with the introduction of Casey Rodarmor's Runes, a new fungible token protocol.
However, since its launch, both user engagement and prices have seen a rapid decline.
Rodarmor’s Runes were hailed as a superior alternative to existing Bitcoin-branded fungible token protocols like BRC-20s and STAMPs, promising reduced on-chain transactions. Rodarmor, known for his success in applying ordinal theory to Bitcoin, inadvertently created a popular NFT protocol with his FIFO convention, which allowed tracking of imaginary satoshis across transactions.
Responding to demand from the NFT trading community, Rodarmor developed Runes, acknowledging in his founding blog post that the market for fungible tokens is predominantly driven by scams and memes. Despite the mathematical impossibility of tracking ownership via satoshis, Rodarmor’s Ordinals theory proposed a method to do so.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Surpasses One Billion Transactions After 800 Weeks
However, despite expectations of high value, the initial results have been disappointing. The first Rune, “Fehu,” launched with much fanfare but has since seen an 85% crash in market capitalization within a month. Despite its founder’s overwhelming control of the token supply, its market value has plummeted.
As traditional meme coins on non-Bitcoin protocols maintain their popularity, such as Dogecoin with a $23 billion market capitalization and Pepe exceeding $3.6 billion, the future of Rodarmor’s Runes remains uncertain. Only time will reveal whether Runes can surpass these legacy meme coins in value.
Alexander Stefanov
Reporter at CoinsPress
Alex is an experienced finance journalist and a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast. With over five years of experience covering the industry, he deeply understands the complex and constantly evolving world of digital assets. His insightful and thought-provoking articles provide readers with a clear picture of the latest developments and trends in the market. His passionate approach allows him to break down complex ideas into accessible and insightful content. Follow up on his content to be up to date with the most important trends and topics - stay ahead of the curve with CoinsPress.
