The meme coin on Bitcoin is about to be supercharged.Here’s how – DL News

Crypto’s proverbial digital lock is undergoing a major upgrade aimed at greatly facilitating the use of memecoins on the Bitcoin network.

And that upgrade is coming just as Bitcoin is raising the bar for its fourth halving.

The service, called Rune, is expected to formalize how inscriptions (essentially Bitcoin NFTs) and tokens are traded and minted.

Launching and speculating meme coins and NFTs in Bitcoin is currently a very troubling experience for developers and investors.

However, users do not stop.

Ordinals Inscriptions, the first full-scale experiment with Bitcoin as a token launchpad, has already generated more than $415 million in transaction fees since 2022.

Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor hopes to tap into and increase that new demand with Runes.

But what is the Rune protocol and how does it work?

Bitcoin token, but faster

At the core of Runes is the use of Bitcoin's UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) model.

In this model, each transaction begins by identifying unused bits of Bitcoin and using these to create a new transaction, similar to collecting digital coins.

Runes stores data in the OP_RETURN field of Bitcoin transactions. Imagine scrawling a note on a physical banknote so you can identify it later. OP_RETURN serves a similar purpose, but in digital form.

This data storage method does not change the value of the transaction, but it allows you to add metadata to the transaction without cluttering the network with unnecessary data.

This maintains network efficiency and reduces latency and transaction costs, which is especially beneficial for networks like Bitcoin.

Brian Ruddick, senior strategist at crypto market maker GSR, said these changes are a major upgrade. DL News.

“Personally, I think there is a real chance that Runes will become the de facto replacement token standard for Bitcoin, because Runes is UTXO-based, maintains all transaction data on-chain, and Because the chain has a small footprint.”

The most important thing to come out of this upgrade is that it gives Bitcoin much more utility.

Locked in as digital gold for hodling purposes rather than for consumption or launching meme coins, runed Bitcoin is much like a layer 1 blockchain where users can trade tokens. .

Preparing the runes

In preparation for the upgrade, Bitcoin NFTs are already in high demand.

Bitcoin NFTs lead all blockchains in terms of trading volume and active traders over the past 30 days, according to data from NFT analysis site nftpulse.

Runestone is one such project, which began with an airdrop to over 112,000 users who held at least three non-text ordinal numbers in their Bitcoin wallets. The airdrop was estimated to have a value of approximately $300 million, with more than $215 million in trading volume on the NFT marketplace.

After a rune upgrade, runestone owners can expect to receive airdrops from three different rune meme coin projects.

The name of the first airdrop was dogis scheduled to drop later this month, while the other two meme coins are scheduled to airdrop later this year.

Meanwhile, existing BRC-20 (the current standard for tokens built on Bitcoin) projects are faced with the decision of whether to continue using BRC-20 or switch to the Runes standard. Many companies have already announced plans to adopt the new standard.

PUPS, the meme coin airdropped to Bitcoin Puppet holders and OPIUM holders, has already hinted that it plans to switch to Rune.

PUPS is the third largest stock in BRC-20, up over 1,226% in the past 30 days and trading with a market capitalization of $462 million.

WZRD, another meme coin that has been hinted at moving to the new Rune standard, has risen 257% over the past seven days.

Ryan Celaj is a data correspondent for DL ​​News. Any tips?send him an email ryan@dlnews.com.