The buzz surrounding the upcoming Runes protocol has propelled the Bitcoin meme coin PUPS to surge by approximately 50% in the past day, as traders eagerly bet on tokens and networks related to Bitcoin before the halving.
During the Asian afternoon hours, this meme coin was trading at over $66, boasting a market capitalization of $516 million. This places it as the third-largest Bitcoin-based token, trailing behind ORDI and SATS.
According to data from Cryptoslam, PUPS has dominated global sales and volumes among all NFT collections, raking in over $11 million in volumes. Following closely behind are uncategorized Bitcoin Ordinals collections and NodeMonkes with $7 million and $1 million in volumes respectively. This continues the trend of heightened interest in Bitcoin NFTs observed earlier this week.
Data indicates that PUPS has skyrocketed by over 1,000% in the past week, earning recognition as the “first” meme coin on Bitcoin, which has contributed significantly to its viral spread and attraction. However, developers have refuted this claim, asserting a different narrative.
Currently operating as an Ordinals token, PUPS intends to transition to the forthcoming Runes protocol post-halving. Traders on the social media platform X are amplifying excitement around Runes, marking it as the next big thing following the recent fervor in the Solana and Base ecosystems.
What is Bitcoin Runes?
The impending Runes protocol, slated to launch after Bitcoin’s halving, aims to enhance the Ordinals protocol by further reducing transaction costs and increasing speed. Traders anticipate it to be a sector of interest in the upcoming weeks.
Ordinals serve as a method to embed data into the Bitcoin blockchain by encoding references to digital art into small Bitcoin-based transactions.
Runes takes this concept a step further by leveraging a UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) protocol to execute transactions. This allows tokens to create, designate, and transfer digital assets solely through the Bitcoin network.
UTXO refers to the technical term for the residual tokens that may remain after a cryptocurrency transaction.
Both Ordinals and Runes are projects helmed by veteran Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor, fostering trust and authenticity among users.
In an X post earlier this month, Rodarmor emphasized that the protocol is tailored for “degen” (degenerate) traders and meme coins, stoking excitement within the meme coin trading community. “Runes were designed for degen traders and meme coins, yet the protocol remains simple, efficient, and secure. It stands as a legitimate competitor to Taproot Assets and RGB,” he stated. The ordinals library offers comprehensive support for encoding and decoding runestones, simplifying integration.
“At the time, I maintain a high level of skepticism toward ‘serious’ tokens, but Runes undeniably emerges as a ‘serious’ token protocol,” Rodarmor reiterated.
