Since its launch, the Runes protocol has witnessed a notable drop in activity.
Introduced by Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, Runes enables the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Despite an initial surge in interest, recent weeks have seen a slowdown, with a significant reduction in both new mints and wallet interactions since May 10.
Data from Dune Analytics highlights a steady decline in the protocol’s fee revenue.
Although Runes continues to generate substantial daily fees on the Bitcoin blockchain, exceeding $1 million only twice in the last 12 days signals a declining trend.
“Although Runes still earns hundreds of thousands of dollars daily in fees on the Bitcoin blockchain, the total fees have only surpassed $1 million twice in the last 12 days,” noted a Dune Analytics dashboard.
The protocol was launched on April 20, coinciding with the latest Bitcoin halving event, and led to a frenzy among investors.
This frenzy was reflected in the Bitcoin network’s transaction fees, with Bitcoin miners earning a record-breaking $135 million in the first week following the Runes launch.
“The launch of Runes triggered a frenzy among investors, leading to a surge in transaction fees and a record-breaking windfall for Bitcoin miners, with over $135 million generated in fees during the first week alone,” reported Dune Analytics.
Initially, Runes-related transactions dominated the Bitcoin network, constituting the majority of the activity until April 24.
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At its peak on April 23, Runes accounted for 81.3% of the transactions on the network.
However, the transaction share associated with Runes began to dwindle consistently over the following nine days, hitting a low by May 2. It briefly recovered, commanding over 60% of the transaction share on May 4 and 5.
Amid these developments, the mining community experienced fluctuating earnings, particularly after the Bitcoin halving when their revenues fell to below $30 million per day in May.
Despite the challenges, Runes has shown potential for significant market success. According to Magic Eden, several Rune collections have already achieved market capitalizations in the hundreds of millions.
Rodarmor recently teased further innovations at an Ordinals event in Hong Kong, hinting at an upcoming audioreactive generative art project, underscoring the continued potential and evolving nature of the Runes protocol.
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