Even among seasoned blockchain developers who detest the digital tokens that can be created on the platform, attention was drawn to the launch of prominent Bitcoin builder Casey Rodamor’s latest creation, Runes, even though this was the most anticipated Bitcoin halving to date (at least based on Google search history).
The Ordinals protocol, which enables users to “inscribe” data on the smallest units of bitcoin (satoshis), is what made Rodamor well-known. Ordinals allows users to create incredibly valuable commodities on the cryptocurrency. Much of the credit for reviving the Bitcoin developer environment goes to Ordinals.
Ordinals and Runes are similar in that they both let users “etch” and issue tokens on-chain; however, Runes will work more like meme currencies, which have lately taken the cryptocurrency world by storm, whilst Ordinals are “non-fungible,” or one-of-a-kind.
The UNCOMMON•GOODS project by Rodamor was the first Runes project to mint. Like many other projects vying for a spot on these highly sought-after satoshis, it was publicized well in advance of the halving but it’s impossible to predict in advance what other initiatives might be able to secure a spot on these limited satoshis. There are literally hundreds of Runes projects in the process of being created and are only waiting for a buyer.
Runes minters have already paid 78.6 BTC in fees (~$4.95 million) to purchase the rarest of the rare, about nine blocks after the halving. This implies that the Runes protocol may benefit Bitcoin’s developing fee economy, just like Ordinals do.
Being an early project to list, such as DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON, which has the distinction of being “Rune Number 3,” is one way to determine whether a Runes project has the potential to succeed. However, this is somewhat subjective. However, purchasers are now evaluating projects according to the “quality” of its ticker.
Before the halving, several Runes initiatives, including dozens others, such as DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG, MEME•ECONOMICS, SHORT•THE•WORLD, and PEPE•WIT•HONKERS, had already begun to mint. Users and speculators conversed about which Runes to manufacture and traded ticker names in an X Space hosted by renowned Ordinals collector Leonidas, prior to the half block was mined.
The projects Taproot Wizards, Ordinals, which was co-founded by Bitcoin pioneers Eric Wall and Udi Wertheimer, and Satoshi Nakamoto, which was named after the creator of Bitcoin and had over 5,000 holders as of the time of publication minting over 19,000 tokens, were among the names withdrawn.
It’s difficult to predict which projects will truly turn out to be valuable in the long run.
One trader stated, “Yeah, I don’t see any good memes, like, I mean, I’m just trying to figure it out.” “To tell the truth, I haven’t struck anything yet.”
Another person said, “Right now, I’m trying to understand the space in general.” These initiatives resemble the initial Runes. Do you people genuinely believe that these will be the most valuable ones?
Someone said, “I think it depends what happens with them.”
How many tokens were “pre-mined,” or kept in reserve for project developers to perhaps distribute on the market later, is another factor to take into account. Leonidas released recommendations prior to the halving, implying that projects that premine over 10% of the total token supply were “greedy.”
A merchant expressed his belief that the pre-mines would emerge victorious. He claimed that the reason behind the difficulty in creating a catchy meme with a 13-character limit was the hardcoded naming scheme Rodamor incorporated into Runes in an attempt to thwart “ticker squatters.”
Runes tickers will eventually be able to list shorter names. For example, three-letter ticker Runes projects might be available within three years.
However, it’s unknown how successfully this tactic will work. A sequence of tickers, including ZZZZ (the “first four letter Rune” to mint in two years), ZZ and Z (the first two letter and one letter Runes to mint in three years), and A (the final single character Rune to mint in four years), have already been blocked off by a forward-thinking developer, according to data source Ordiscan.
Put another way, it might be challenging to decide what is valuable when something is so fresh.
Leonidas addressed the crowd, saying, “I want to just take a moment to say it’s awesome being here with all of you as everybody is scrambling to figure out what the hell is going on.” This effectively marks the beginning of a new protocol that kicked off about 30 minutes ago. So let’s see what happens. I think it’s going to be very chaotic.”