Key facts: During its first week, Runes generated 135 million in network commissions. The share of Runes transactions dropped to less than 20% of the total. The activity of the Runes protocol has been losing strength during May, after its activation three weeks ago along with the Bitcoin halving. At the time, the euphoria of the token and NFT markets that can be issued and traded through Runes generated $135 million in fees on the Bitcoin network in just its first week. However, the rise of this new technology, which allows the activity of tokens and NFTs to be recorded in Bitcoin, declined considerably. Data provided through the Dune Analytics forum shows decreasing activity in the number of (recorded) Runes logs. The amount It went from more than 70,000 new token registrations during the last days of April to less than 3,000 new Runes so far in May.
On April 24, Runes-related transactions made up more than 60% of the total on the Bitcoin network. April 23th, The percentage became 81.3%, as reported by BitcoinDynamic. Currently, the participation of transactions was reduced to 18.15%, with Ordinal and BRC-20 transactions at 0.1% each, minimums that show the fall in market interest in this type of asset.
The percentage of transactions related to Runes decreased to less than 20% of the total. Source Dune Analytics Although between May 4 and 5, Runes activity recovered its participation in transactions above 60%, the trend has maintained. This low activity also affects the value of the commissions and profits they produce for the network's miners.
Effect of Falling Runes on Bitcoin
After its launch on April 19, the Runes protocol generated a notable increase in the value of commissions, mainly due to a large demand from token markets, which rushed to register their assets in the first mined blocks after the halving. In total, more than USD 135 million in commissions were generated. So far in May, that number has decreased. Although hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees are still generated in Bitcoin from Runes activity, only two days during the month did it surpass $1 million in fees.
The commission boom translated to averages of between $100 and $200 per transaction in the first week after Runes launched. Source: Brains. As seen in the graph, the value of commissions returned to pre-halving levels. At the peak, commissions were worth between USD 100 and USD 200 for common transactions that would be confirmed in the first blocks. For days, the value remained at an average of USD 20 per transaction. Currently, The average commission value is just over a dollar.
This has had an influence on the profits of the miners, who initially welcomed the emergence of Runes with enthusiasm, because in those early days The daily unrealized profits of the miners reached figures of between USD 40 million and USD 145 million. With the decline in Runes activity, and the drop in the price of bitcoin to just over USD 60,000, miners' daily earnings remain at an average of USD 30 million per day.