The introduction of Runes, a novel token standard on the Bitcoin blockchain, has dominated more than two-thirds of Bitcoin transactions since its launch post the network’s halving event on April 20.

According to data from a Dune Analytics dashboard shared by blockchain research firm Crypto Koryo, over 2.38 million Runes transactions have been processed, constituting 68% of all Bitcoin transactions since April 20. These transactions encompass various token standards including peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC), BRC-20s, Ordinals, and Runes.

Runes experienced its peak activity on April 23, with over 750,000 transactions, though this number decreased significantly to 312,000 the following day.

Initially, much of the demand stemmed from meme coin and non-fungible token enthusiasts vying to engrave “rare satoshis” using the Runes protocol at block 840,000.

Consequently, Runes transactions contributed to nearly 70% of miner fees on the halving day and have continued to fluctuate between 33% and 69% of daily fees since then.

However, there's a division among industry experts regarding whether Runes will offer a sustainable revenue source for Bitcoin miners, with a noticeable difference between the number of Rune transactions and the miner fees earned from them.

Created by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor, Runes have been promoted as a more efficient alternative to the BRC-20 token standard for generating new tokens on the Bitcoin network.

Nonetheless, there are concerns about the amount of block space occupied by Runes transactions in recent days, with critics like Nikita Zhavoronkov, lead developer at blockchain search engine Blockchair, suggesting that Bitcoin has strayed from Satoshi Nakamoto's original vision as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system.