According to TechFlow, the Bitcoin Runes protocol has encountered challenges in maintaining its share of Bitcoin transactions. Since its launch on April 20, Runes transactions have dominated Bitcoin blockchain traffic on eight different days, mainly concentrated on weekends.
The launch of Runes coincided with the fourth Bitcoin halving, sparking a wave of enthusiasm that drove a surge in transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain and saw miners’ revenues exceed $100 million for the first time. On April 23, Runes transactions peaked at 81.3%, but fell to 11.1% by May 2. Runes transactions picked up again over the weekend of May 4-6, but the overall trend was downward. As of May 22, Runes transactions accounted for 12.7%, far higher than Bitcoin Ordinals (0.7%) and BRC-20 (1.5%). Runes transactions have fallen by more than 84% since their all-time highs.
