Bitcoin-based memecoins, known as Runes, have only been around since April this year.
The memecoin undercurrent is so strong across the cryptocurrency space, that it is now taking over the Bitcoin ecosystem, a blockchain once known for its no-nonsense community of hard-money advocates.
Runes, which is the label for memecoins in the Bitcoin network, have accounted for 35% of the more than 99 million transactions on the world’s oldest blockchain since Jan. 1, according to a report by Galaxy Research.
Of the remaining transaction pool, 50% were standard financial transactions, 11% were for BRC-20s, and only 4% belong to Ordinals traders–a trend that has been intact since May.
Since launching on April 19, Runes have averaged 63% of all Bitcoin transactions.
April 19 also marked the day of Bitcoin’s fourth halving which reduced the block subsidy by 50%, meaning miners would go on to receive 3.125 BTC, down from 6.25 BTC previously. Runes traders piled into the halving block, with these types of transactions accounting for 68% of all transactions, and daily fees paid to miners surged to an all-time high of 1,200 BTC.
Top Runes Collections
Top Runes collections include ZZZZZFEHUZZZZZ and Dog Go to The Moon, with $692 million and $301 million market caps respectively, according to Magic Eden.
Memecoins have had outsized success on other chains, so it may have been predictable that traders on Bitcoin would also take to the casino-like sector. But with the tokens accounting for a third of all transactions, some Bitcoiners may be surprised at the extent they’re thriving.
That said, it’s in line with other chains which are showing similar behavior. Memecoins are drawing large numbers of transactions through for networks like Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, and BNB, with $50 billion in total trading volume.
Numbers for the overall Runes market capitalization are varied, with CoinGecko reporting $343 million while RunesMarketCap settles it at $2.7 billion. Both numbers are a drop in the bucket for the overall memecoin sector which according to CoinGecko lands on $45 billion.
So-called blue chip memecoins such as Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and PEPE, outscore the entire Runes ecosystem by a wide margin, which signals the nascency of the Bitcoin-native landscape along with its potential for growth.
