Markets
Bitcoin runes are back? Meme Coin’s Rise Pushes Market Cap Over $2 Billion
For the first time ever, the collective market capitalization of tokens on the Bitcoin-base Runic Protocol eclipsed $2 billion, further upending the narrative that the new ecosystem for meme coins built on the Bitcoin network is dead on arrival.
At the time of writing, tokens on Runes hold a collective value of $2.06 billion, according to data analytics platform Bitcoin. GeniiData. Just last week, that figure surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
The increase in value appears largely attributable to one Runes token in particular, DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (aka DOG). DOG has jumped more than 90% last week, at a price that is still a fraction of a cent. Its market capitalization now stands at $797 million, making it the ninth most valuable coin among all blockchains, according to CoinGecko.
The recent increase in the value of Runes seems to be something of a blessing for Runes creator Casey Rordamor, who previously launched the NFT-like model. Bitcoin Ordinals registration protocol last year.
Ahead of Runes launching alongside the Bitcoin halving on April 19, Rordamor tweeted— jokingly, we presume — he would commit ritual suicide if Runes didn’t reach a billion-dollar market cap within a month of launch.
It looks like the Bitcoin developer barely got his wish. According to GeniiData, Runes surpassed a total market capitalization of $1 billion just a day before Rordamor’s self-imposed deadline. Since then, the protocol has grown at a remarkable pace, with its value more than doubling in just a few days.
The past few days have brought a particularly pronounced increase in Runes activity, with daily trading volume on the protocol approaching $20 million on Wednesday and Thursday for the first time since the week Runes launched in April.
The rise comes just as many in the industry have done so. removed Runes like failuregiven the sky-high expectations associated with the protocol’s enticing proposition to streamline how coins – a hot asset class – can be created on top of the world’s dominant cryptocurrency.
Before Runes’ apparent return over the past two weeks, trading volume for the protocol fell by more than 90% after a short-lived blockbuster. beginning.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment or other advice.