2024

Bitcoin

April

Bitcoin Runes have amassed over 2,500 Bitcoin (BTC) worth of transaction fees in less than two months, signaling the growth of Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi).
Runes, a new protocol for issuing fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, has generated 2,513 Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) in total fees since launch, worth over $163 million, according to Dune <a href="https://dune.com/cryptokoryo/runes" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a>. 
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 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/2a050ead-cf68-4c0b-a1f5-c80e0c423f0a.png" alt="" title="">
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 Bitcoin Runes total fees. Source: Dune
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The milestone comes two months after the launch of the Runes protocol, which happened during the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-halving-2024">2024 Bitcoin halving</a> in April, signaling continued interest in the potential of Bitcoin-native DeFi, or BTCFi.
Additional transaction fees from protocols like Runes could extend a significant lifeline for Bitcoin miners post-halving after the Bitcoin block rewards were cut from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-true-hashrate-breaks-18-month-uptrend-btc-miners-capitulating">Bitcoin breaks 18-month hashrate uptrend: Are BTC miners capitulating?</a>
<h2 id="bitcoin-runes-outperform-brc-20-tokens-and-ordinals">Bitcoin Runes outperform BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals</h2>
Bitcoin Runes are becoming the dominant standard for issuing fungible tokens on the world’s first blockchain network.
Looking at the distribution of transactions, Runes-related transactions accounted for 12.2%, while BRC-20 transactions amassed 5%, and Ordinals inscriptions accounted for 0.6% of total transactions on the Bitcoin network.
Over 82% of transactions remained regular BTC transactions, as of June 17, according to Dune <a href="https://dune.com/cryptokoryo/runes" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">data</a>.
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-06/1dcff4ed-975c-46ce-adc7-d6bad4738258.png" alt="" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Share of transactions on the Bitcoin network. Source: Dune
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In terms of daily transaction count, there were 9,567 Runes-related transactions, with just 3,938 BRC-20 transactions and 474 Ordinals-related transactions. Regular Bitcoin transactions stood at 64,620.
Runes&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-runes-surpass-ordinals-brc20">have been outperforming BRC-20</a> tokens in terms of onchain activity since their launch in April 2024.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/corporate-adoption-amateur-league-bitcoin-etfs">Corporate adoption is in ‘amateur league’ despite Bitcoin ETFs</a>
<h2 id="runes-a-lifeline-for-bitcoin-miners">Runes: A lifeline for Bitcoin miners</h2>
The rise in transaction fees from Bitcoin Runes is <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/runes-offering-lifeline-bitcoin-miners-terawulf">offering a lifeline for Bitcoin miners</a>, according to Nazar Khan, co-founder and chief operating officer of TeraWulf.
Khan told Cointelegraph in an exclusive:
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 “Runes significantly increased the transaction fees, so if anything, there was an increase in the hash price in the first 24–30 hours [after the halving]. Since then, we’ve seen transaction fees come down, but compared to the average fees in 2023, they’re still pretty high.”
</blockquote><iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vJ02e-A1e-c" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen data-ct-non-breakable="true"></iframe>
<figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Nazar Khan, interview with Cointelegraph. Source: <a href="https://youtu.be/vJ02e-A1e-c" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Cointelegraph</a>
</figcaption>
As the rest of the Bitcoin block reward is fixed issuance, the transaction fees are the “wild card” for Bitcoin miners, according to Khan.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/roaring-kittys-shares-1b-gme-rally-btc-open-interest-soars-hodlers-digest-june-2-8/">Roaring Kitty’s GME shares hit $1B, BTC open interest soars, and other news: Hodler’s Digest, June 2–8</a>

Bitcoin Runes racks up over 2,500 BTC in fees under 2 months

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