Daily average Runes transactions have recently witnessed a significant drop, plummeting by over 88% from its peak earlier this month.

According to data by Crypto Koryo, the daily average Runes transactions from June 22 to June 28 stood at a mere 37,820. This figure contrasts with the 331,040 daily average recorded between June 9 and June 15.

The decline reached its lowest on June 24, with only 23,238 transactions, marking the lowest point since Runes launched during Bitcoin’s fourth halving event. Over the past week, Runes transactions have comprised just 4.9% to 11.1% of all Bitcoin transactions.

Initial Scene

Initially, protocols like Runes and Ordinals were seen as promising new revenue streams for Bitcoin miners, who traditionally relied on standard peer-to-peer Bitcoin transfers to earn network fees. These protocols managed to bridge the 50% reduction in block subsidy for a few days post the April 20 halving event.

However, since then, the trading volumes have been anything but steady, leaving miners in a precarious position.

Runes, introduced by Ordinals inventor Casey Rodarmor on April 20, was promoted as a more efficient method to create new tokens on the Bitcoin network compared to the BRC-20 token standard and other alternatives. Despite its initial promise, the current trends suggest a significant decrease in adoption or usage, raising questions about its long-term viability.

This sharp drop in Runes transactions has had a noticeable impact on Bitcoin miner fees, a crucial revenue source for miners. Since the last halving event, miners have been grappling with reduced block rewards, and the slump in Runes transactions hasn’t helped.

In the last six days, Runes have contributed less than 2 Bitcoin in miner fees, a drastic fall from the record 884 Bitcoin on April 24. Comparatively, fees from Ordinals inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens have been even lower during the same period.

Bitcoin Miners Suffer

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s hash price, a critical metric for assessing miner revenue, has dropped to near-record lows. This decline is particularly concerning given that miners’ operational costs remain constant, putting additional strain on their financial stability. Bitcoin miner reserves plummeted to 1.90 million Bitcoin on June 19, the lowest level in over 14 years.

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