Following the Bitcoin halving on Saturday, April 20, transaction fees surged to the highest level on record as users competed to mint new Runes inscriptions. According to RunesMarketCap, Runes have a market cap of around $430 million as of press time, with the top project being SATOSHI•NAKAMOTO at $130 million.
Bitcoin Runes is a new protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain, designed to create fungible tokens using the UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model. This protocol, proposed by Casey Rodarmor, aims to address inefficiencies in existing token standards like BRC-20 by minimizing the creation of “junk” UTXOs and promoting more responsible management of blockchain resources. The protocol launched in conjunction with the halving, leading to a scramble to mint Runes and the subsequent fee spike as users competed to be included in a block.
However, fees subsided early on Sunday, April 21, and as of this morning, April 22, fees are close to pre-halving levels.
Bitcoin’s price has rallied through the halving event, reaching as high as $66,500 and currently sitting around $66,000 as of press time.
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