Bitcoin Runes, a new protocol for issuing fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, has generated 2,513 Bitcoin in total fees since launch, worth over $163 million, according to Dune data.

The milestone comes two months after the launch of the Runes protocol, which happened during the 2024 Bitcoin halving in April, signalling continued interest in the potential of Bitcoin-native DeFi, or BTCFi.

Runes-related transactions could extend a significant revenue boost for Bitcoin miners after the 2024 halving.
Bitcoin miners may receive a substantial lifeline from additional transaction fees from protocols such as Runes after the block rewards were reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC following the halving.

Bitcoin Runes perform better than Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.

On the first blockchain network in history, Bitcoin Runes are quickly taking over as the accepted method for producing fungible tokens.

In terms of transaction distribution, rune-related transactions made up 12.2% of all transactions on the Bitcoin network, followed by BRC-20 transactions at 5% and Ordinals inscriptions at 0.6%.

Bitcoin Runes, a new protocol for issuing fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, has generated 2,513 Bitcoin in total fees since launch, worth over $163 million, according to Dune data.

The milestone comes two months after the launch of the Runes protocol, which happened during the 2024 Bitcoin halving in April, signalling continued interest in the potential of Bitcoin-native DeFi, or BTCFi.

Runes-related transactions could extend a significant revenue boost for Bitcoin miners after the 2024 halving.
As of June 17, over 82% of transactions were still standard Bitcoin transactions, per Dune statistics.

There were 9,567 Runes-related transactions in total per day, compared to merely 3,938 BRC-20 and 474 Ordinals-related transactions. There were 64,620 regular Bitcoin transactions.

Since its inception in April 2024, runes have outperformed BRC-20 tokens in terms of onchain activity.

A lifesaver for Bitcoin miners: Runes

As per Nazar Khan, co-founder and chief operating officer of TeraWulf, Bitcoin miners are receiving a lifeline from the increase in transaction fees from Bitcoin Runes.

In a Cointelegraph exclusive, Khan stated:

If anything, the hash price climbed in the first 24 to 30 hours [after the halving] due to Runes' large increase in transaction fees. Transaction fees have decreased since then, although they are still rather high when compared to the average fees in 2023.

According to Khan, the transaction fees are the "wild card" for Bitcoin miners because the remaining portion of the block reward is issued at a predetermined rate.