Before the halving, there was considerable anticipation surrounding the Runes protocol, with many expecting it to be a major development. Following the halving at block height 840,000, there was a surge in fees to over $240 per transfer, suggesting that Runes would have a significant impact on the network.

However, the most active period for Runes mints and activity was on April 26, with thousands of etchings occurring over four days. Since then, there has been a dramatic shift. On April 30, 2024, 86,047 etchings were added to the Bitcoin blockchain, but only 6,122 etchings have occurred over the past 18 days.

The lowest activity day was May 12, with only 120 Runes printed, while the highest was May 3, with 1,203 Runes etched. Yesterday, May 17, only 143 etchings were recorded. At the same time, fees for producing Runes have decreased along with the activity.

Bitcoin (BTC) miners have earned $4.56 million in fees from Runes to date, with the majority collected during the etching period between April 19 and April 30. However, data from Dune Analytics indicates a significant slowdown in Ordinal inscriptions since April 20.

Since then, fewer than 35,000 inscriptions have been processed each day. While initial enthusiasm for Runes and Ordinal inscriptions was high, the data suggests that excitement has waned, at least for now, as activity levels have notably declined in the month following the Bitcoin halving and the Runes protocol launch.