Runes, a new token standard on the Bitcoin blockchain, has seen its average daily transaction count plummet more than 88% from its peak this month.
The average daily Runes transaction from June 22 to 28 was 37,820, reflecting a decrease of nearly 90% compared to the daily average of 331,040 recorded from June 9 to 15.
It includes 23,238 transactions made on June 24 – the lowest since the protocol’s launch coincided with Bitcoin’s fourth halving on April 20.
Trade Runes daily since the protocol launched on April 20. Source: Dune Analytics
Runes transactions only accounted for about 4.9- 11.1% of total Bitcoin transactions last week.
The sharp drop in Runes transactions has had a significant impact on the fees of Bitcoin miners, who are still being affected by the fourth halving event.
Runes have contributed less than 2 Bitcoin in mining fees for the past six consecutive days – marking a major drop from the record of 884 Bitcoin on April 24.
Bitcoin fees from Runes as of April 20. Source: Dune Analytics
Fees from the Ordinals inscription and the BRC-20 token were even lower during the same time frame.
These protocols were initially seen as a new source of revenue for Bitcoin miners, who previously relied on conventional peer-to-peer Bitcoin transfers to earn network fees.
These fees from Runes and Ordinals supported miners with up to 50% block subsidies in the coming days after the April 20 halving – but since then, transaction volumes have been largely unpredictable.
Runes, launched on April 20 by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor, are touted as a more efficient way to create new tokens on the Bitcoin network than the BRC-20 token standard and alternatives.
The drop in network fees and the price of Bitcoin has sent the hash rate — a key metric for measuring miner revenue — to near all-time lows.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin miner reserves plummeted to 1.90 million Bitcoins on June 19, the lowest level in more than 14 years.
Itadori
According to Cointelegraph
