Bitcoin – Runes protocol goes live after the halving, is the hype real?

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    Runes protocol was activated as the fourth BTC halving went live
    Market watchers claim Runes will follow Ordinals and renew interest in Bitcoin

The fourth Bitcoin halving has occurred, leading to the activation of the anticipated Runes protocol for Bitcoin [BTC]. Similar to Bitcoin Ordinals, this new protocol is believed by market observers to renew excitement around Bitcoin and attract more individuals to the network.

Rune functions as Bitcoin’s latest standard for creating fungible tokens, much like ERC-20 serves Ethereum [ETH]. Consequently, it enables the generation of various assets on the Bitcoin network, ranging from meme coins to governance tokens.

In response to the impending new rules, Franklin Templeton, with assets totaling $1.5 trillion, made a statement.

“Runes has the potential to bring similar transformative effects to Bitcoin’s fungible tokens and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector as Ordinals did for Bitcoin’s Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).”

After its launch in December 2022, Bitcoin Ordinals experienced remarkable growth. Notably, the number of transactions on the Bitcoin network and transaction fees increased significantly.

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Casey Rodarmor, who is known for developing Bitcoin’s Ordinals protocol, has additionally created the Runes protocol. Thus, there’s interest in whether Runes can replicate Ordinals’ achievements and ultimately increase Bitcoin’s worth.

Will Runes repeat Ordinal’s success after Bitcoin halving?

The value of Bitcoin Ordinals’ market cap surpasses $2 billion, making it a significant development in the Bitcoin community that some view as a game-changer. However, it’s important to acknowledge that this innovation has encountered opposition. For example, Bitcoin developer Dashjr has criticized ordinals and inscriptions as potentially detrimental to the network by labeling them “spam.”

Despite this, experts remain optimistic about Runes’ influence on Bitcoin. In Ansem’s perspective as a crypto analyst, Runes is considered one of the valuable Bitcoin alternate coins to hold.

“I’m still strongly betting on Solana and Bitcoin for the long term, not through leverage but by investing in Bitcoin alternative coins. I believe this is just a normal pullback during a bull market and we will hold strong. Runes are optimistic about summer.”

Instead, others argue that Runes are an essential component of an expanding Bitcoin Layer 2 (L2) system, which could disrupt the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) market and potentially challenge Ethereum and Solana [SOL] in this domain. Imran Khan, a notable figure in the Bitcoin L2 community at Alliance DAO, a platform for guiding crypto entrepreneurs, expressed this perspective.

If you didn’t experience the Ethereum DeFi summer of 2020, get ready for a comparable situation with Bitcoin. The imminent rollout of Runes, Layer 2 solutions, memes/ordinals, and Defi protocols is setting the stage for an exciting storm ahead.

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It’s noteworthy that Casey Rodarmor, the inventor of Ordinals and Runes, expresses uncertainty regarding the response of Bitcoin maximalists following the Bitcoin halving. He anticipates,

“It’s fine if Bitcoin Maxis don’t favor Inscriptions or Runes, as I believe their indifference is best. For me, Bitcoin serves as currency against adversaries.”

The Runes protocol aims to generate memecoins and attract “degen” communities to the Bitcoin network, much like how meme trends fueled Solana’s network engagement.

Yet, the community’s response and the subsequent impact on Bitcoin’s value following the halving event are still uncertain.

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2024-04-20 08:07