Bitcoin Runes have accumulated a staggering 2,513 BTC in transaction fees in under two months, showcasing the rise of Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi).
The Runes protocol, which enables the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, has raked in over $163 million in total fees since its launch, as reported by Dune data.
This achievement comes following the protocol’s introduction during the 2024 Bitcoin halving in April, highlighting the growing interest in Bitcoin-native DeFi, also known as BTCFi.
The additional transaction fees generated by protocols like Runes could provide crucial support for Bitcoin miners post-halving, following the reduction of block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block.
In the world of token issuance, Bitcoin Runes are emerging as the preferred standard on the pioneering blockchain network. Runes-related transactions make up 12.2% of total transactions, surpassing BRC-20 tokens at 5% and Ordinals inscriptions at 0.6%.
Regular Bitcoin transactions still dominate the network, accounting for over 82% of transactions as of June 17, according to Dune data.
In terms of daily transaction volume, Runes transactions lead the pack with 9,567 transactions, followed by 3,938 BRC-20 transactions, 474 Ordinals-related transactions, and 64,620 regular Bitcoin transactions.
Since its launch in April 2024, Runes have consistently outperformed BRC-20 tokens in terms of on-chain activity, solidifying its position as the go-to standard for token issuance on the Bitcoin network.
The surge in transaction fees from Bitcoin Runes is providing much-needed support for Bitcoin miners, according to Nazar Khan, co-founder and COO of TeraWulf. Khan emphasized the importance of transaction fees as a crucial variable for miners, especially with the fixed issuance of Bitcoin block rewards.
With the promising growth of Bitcoin Runes and the potential it holds for Bitcoin miners, the future of Bitcoin-native DeFi looks bright.