While Bitcoin typically dominates the blockchain network, a clear champion has emerged in the battle for bandwidth supremacy among Bitcoin standards – Ordinals, BRC-20, and Runes.
The level of onchain activity serves as a valuable gauge of current market demand and overall community interest. Since its inception on April 20, Runes, a standard for creating fungible tokens on Bitcoin (BTC), has surpassed the long-standing Ordinals and BRC-20 standards in terms of transaction volume.
Carpooling the Bitcoin network
Back in 2024, the BRC-20 token standard held over 50% of the Bitcoin blockchain bandwidth for a week. In contrast, Runes achieved the same milestone in just 10 days within three months of its launch.
Runes recently dominated the Bitcoin blockchain on two consecutive days – June 10 and 11 – claiming 51% and 53% of the network bandwidth, respectively. This surge signifies a strong interest among investors in the ecosystem. However, on March 30, BRC-20’s transaction share surpassed 50%, but it has since struggled to compete with BTC and its newer standards.
For more information on Bitcoin Runes and its differences from BRC-20 tokens, refer to this Cointelegraph guide.
Impact on Bitcoin mining
The uptick in network activity helps Bitcoin miners sustain their monthly revenues. Since its introduction, Runes has generated nearly 2,500 BTC, equivalent to approximately $170 million in market value.
The majority of transactions in Runes are linked to minting. So far, Runes has generated 1,377 BTC in mining fees, 61 BTC for etching, and 1,011 BTC for edicts.
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Runes and BRC-20s serve as a gateway to Bitcoin DeFi
On April 23, the Bitcoin network processed over 1.6 million unique transactions between senders and receivers, marking the highest number of confirmed payments.
The launch of Bitcoin Runes significantly contributed to the surge in total transactions across the Bitcoin network.
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