The daily number of new Runes inscribed on Bitcoin has dropped significantly, falling below 250 for the past six days. On Monday, only 157 Runes were etched, marking a 99% decline from its peak in late April. This sharp decline follows a highly successful initial period shortly after the launch, where an average of 14,700 new Runes were etched daily between April 26-30, with a record 23,061 on April 26, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard by RUNES.IS.

Runes, a new token standard, was launched on April 20 at the fourth Bitcoin halving block. The protocol enables memecoin and nonfungible token enthusiasts to inscribe and etch their favorite artwork, images, audio, and videos onto the Bitcoin network. Initially, Runes provided a significant revenue boost for Bitcoin miners, helping to offset the impact of the recent halving, which reduced the block subsidy to 3.125 Bitcoin, worth approximately $196,800 at current prices.

However, the 157 Runes etched on May 13 contributed only $3,835 in transaction fees to Bitcoin miners, a stark contrast to the substantial amounts miners were earning daily in late April. Since the launch of Runes on April 20, a total of $4.5 million in transaction fees have been paid to Bitcoin miners, averaging about $189,000 per day. To date, over 91,200 Runes have been etched on Bitcoin.

Despite the decline in the number of Runes etched daily, Runes transactions continue to dominate the majority of Bitcoin transactions in May. These transactions are primarily conducted on marketplaces such as Magic Eden, OKX, Ordinals Wallet, and UniSat. This ongoing activity indicates sustained interest in the Runes protocol within the Bitcoin community.

Runes was created by Casey Rodarmor, the inventor of Ordinals, with the aim of utilizing blockspace more efficiently than its main competitor, BRC-20s, as noted by Binance Research. Unlike BRC-20s, Runes are compatible with Bitcoin's unspent transaction output (UTXO) model, allowing UTXOs to hold balances of various fungible tokens like Runes. However, Rodarmor has emphasized that Runes are not intended to revolutionize finance but rather provide a fun and engaging use case for Bitcoin enthusiasts.