Comparison of Blockchain.com and Glassnode data reveals a direct correlation between the launch of Bitcoin Runes, an alternative to Bitcoin Ordinals, and the use of the BRC-20 protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain and the sudden increase in daily Bitcoin transactions. Runes accounted for 81.3% of all Bitcoin transactions on April 23, according to Dune Analytics data. This shows that the launch of the new protocol has made a significant impact on the Bitcoin network in a short time.

However, as the excitement calmed down a bit, BTC regained the largest transaction share of the network. As of April 29, BTC accounted for 77.8% of all Bitcoin transactions, while Runes contributed 18.8%. Other transactions on the Bitcoin network consist of traditional Bitcoin transactions (77.8%), Ordinals (1.2%) and BRC-20 transactions (2.3%).

Although Rune transactions have decreased in weight, it appears to have a positive impact for the mining industry. Stronghold Digital Mining and Marathon, two of the largest mining companies operating in the United States, highlighted the positive impact of Runes, both financially and operationally, in their correspondence with Cointelegraph. Rune transactions have earned miners more than 1,200 BTC in transaction fees since the Bitcoin halving. This has become an important source of income for miners at a time when Bitcoin mining has become difficult.

While the hype around Rune tokens has faded, a decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher pseudonymous Ignas sees this as a real market opportunity. In a post dated April 17, Ignas wrote:

“Runestone, RSIC and PUPS are already rising, promising investors shiny new Rune token airdrops. The FOMO [fear of missing out] chatter keeps coming, too. But just like the NFT craze after JPEG was exposed, the market may soon cool off.”

Bitcoin Runes is a new token standard that emerged as an alternative to Bitcoin Ordinals that allows writing to the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Ordinals allow you to permanently add digital items such as JPEG images or text to the Bitcoin blockchain. However, Ordinals has received some criticism for slowing down the Bitcoin blockchain and increasing transaction fees.

This is where Bitcoin Runes comes into play. While Runes offers the ability to write data to the Bitcoin blockchain, it does so in a more efficient and scalable way than Ordinals. In this way, transaction fees remain low and the load on the network is reduced.

Another important feature of Bitcoin Runes is that it is compatible with the BRC-20 token standard. In this way, many tokens used on the Ethereum network become portable to the Bitcoin blockchain. This may expand the usage areas of Bitcoin and pave the way for the development of new DeFi applications.

Innovations such as Bitcoin Runes and BRC-20 support are paving the way for a new paradigm called Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi). Bitcoin DeFi aims to use the Bitcoin network as a platform for smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). In this way, Bitcoin users will be able to benefit from lending, borrowing, trading and other DeFi applications.

However, Bitcoin DeFi is still in its infancy. There are some challenges, such as the scalability limitations of the Bitcoin blockchain and the limited functionality of smart contracts. Overcoming these challenges is critical for Bitcoin DeFi to unlock its full potential.

The emergence of Bitcoin Runes is an important development in terms of diversifying the usage areas of the Bitcoin network and paving the way for innovations. Although trading volume has returned to a stable level for now, the potential benefits that Rune tokens can bring to Bitcoin are undeniable.

At the same time, this event also gives clues about Bitcoin’s future potential. The Bitcoin network shows that it is open to innovative approaches and can be developed over time and integrated into different areas of use. The realization of concepts such as Bitcoin DeFi could enable Bitcoin to become more than just a store of value and the building block of a broader financial ecosystem.

However, there are obstacles to this transformation that must be overcome. The scalability of the Bitcoin network should be increased and the functionality of smart contracts should be improved. Once these steps are taken, the potential of Bitcoin DeFi can be unlocked and Bitcoin can continue to play an important role in the financial technologies of the future.