The initial excitement around Runes protocol, a new way to create tokens on Bitcoin, seems to be cooling down. Data from Dune Analytics shows that there was a big drop in activity on the protocol since its first week of trading.
On May 10, there were very few new tokens minted (created), and not many new wallets interacting with Runes. This signals a major decline in people using it. The fees Runes earns have also steadily gone down. The total fees crossed $1 million only twice in the last 12 days, a huge drop from over $135 million in fees earned in just the first week.
Launched by Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, on April 20, the same day as Bitcoin’s latest halving, Runes caused a frenzy among investors. This led to a huge spike in transaction fees on Bitcoin and record-breaking earnings for Bitcoin miners, whose profits had fallen sharply after the halving.
Initially, Runes transactions dominated the Bitcoin network, making up over 81% of all transactions on April 23. But their share has consistently decreased since then. However, Runes has still seen major success, with some Rune collections worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Magic Eden data.
As the initial hype fades, crypto fans are eager to see what Rodarmor does next, including an art project he teased at an Ordinals event in Hong Kong.
