Runes, a novel token standard operating on the Bitcoin blockchain, has witnessed a substantial decline in its daily average transaction volume of over 88% since reaching its peak in June.
Data from Crypto Koryo’s Dune Analytics reveals that the average daily Runes transactions between June 22 and June 28 stood at 37,820, indicating a steep decrease of almost 90% compared to the daily average of 331,040 transactions observed during June 9 to June 15. Notably, there were 23,238 transactions recorded on June 24, marking the lowest figure since the protocol’s inception during Bitcoin’s fourth halving event on April 20.
Transactions involving Runes have represented only a modest portion, ranging between 4.9% and 11.1%, of all Bitcoin (BTC) transactions in the past week. The marked decrease in Runes transactions has had a significant impact on Bitcoin miner fees, with miners still grappling with the aftermath of the recent halving event.
Over the last six days, Runes have contributed less than 2 Bitcoin in miner fees, a stark decline from the record high of 884 Bitcoin reported on April 24. In comparison, fees from Ordinals inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens have remained even lower during the same period.
Initially heralded as a promising revenue source for miners, these protocols aimed to offer an alternative to traditional peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions for collecting network fees. While Runes and Ordinals fees managed to offset the 50% reduction in block subsidies immediately following the April 20 halving event, subsequent trading volumes have been largely unpredictable.
Launched by Ordinals innovator Casey Rodarmor on April 20, Runes have been positioned as a more streamlined method for generating new tokens on the Bitcoin network compared to the BRC-20 token standard and other solutions. The decrease in network fees, coupled with fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price, has led to a decline in Bitcoin’s hash rate—a key indicator of miner income—to nearly its lowest level on record.
Simultaneously, Bitcoin miner reserves dwindled to 1.90 million Bitcoin on June 19, marking the lowest level in terms of Bitcoin holdings in over 14 years.
In a related development, “Wolf Of All Streets” expresses concerns about a scenario where Bitcoin reaches $1M, highlighting potential implications in the cryptocurrency space.