Despite
this
being
the
most
anticipated
Bitcoin
halving
yet
(at
least
according
to
Google
search
history),
it
was
the
launch
of
the
high-profile
Bitcoin
builder
Casey
Rodamor’s
latest
creation
–
Runes
–
that
turned
heads,
even
among
long-time
blockchain
developers
who
despise
the
digital
tokens
that
can
be
minted
on
the
platform.
Rodamor
is
known
for
the
release
of
Ordinals,
a
protocol
that
allows
people
to
“inscribe”
data
on
the
smallest
units
of
bitcoin
(i.e.
satoshis)
to
create
highly
valued
assets
on
Bitcoin.
Ordinals
is
largely
credited
for
inspiring
a
renewed
developer
ecosystem
on
Bitcoin.
Runes
is
similar
to
Ordinals,
in
that
it
allows
people
to
“etch”
and
mint
tokens
on-chain
–
the
main
difference
is
that
ordinals
are
“non-fungible”
(i.e.
one-of-a-kind)
while
Runes
will
function
more
like
meme
coins,
which
have
recently
taken
crypto
markets
by
storm.
The
first
Runes
project
to
mint
was
Rodamor’s
own
UNCOMMON•GOODS
project,
which
was
announced
well
in
advance
of
the
halving,
as
were
many
of
the
projects
looking
to
etch
themselves
on
these
highly
coveted
satoshis.
Impossible
to
know
in
advance,
however,
is
what
other
projects
would
be
able
to
find
space
on
these
scarce
satoshis.
There
are
already
quite
literally
hundreds
of
Runes
projects
that
are
currently
being
minted
and
looking
for
prospective
buyers.
About
nine
blocks
after
the
halving,
Runes
minters
had
already
paid
78.6
BTC
in
fees
(~$4.95
million)
in
order
to
buy
the
rarest
of
the
rare.
This
suggests
that,
like
Ordinals,
the
Runes
protocol
could
be
a
boon
to
Bitcoin’s
burgeoning
fee
economy.
What
makes
a
Runes
project
potentially
viable
is
something
of
a
subjective
measure:
being
an
early
project
to
list
—
like
DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON,
which
has
the
honor
of
being
“Rune
Number
3”
—
is
one
measure.
But
buyers
are
also
judging
projects
based
on
the
“quality”
of
its
ticker.
A
number
of
Runes
projects
were
already
starting
to
mint
before
the
halving
happened,
including
DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG•DOG,
MEME•ECONOMICS,
SHORT•THE•WORLD
and
PEPE•WIT•HONKERS,
including
dozens
others,
according
to
runebtc.xyz.
Prior
to
the
halving
block
being
mined,
prospective
buyers
in
an
X
Space
hosted
by
Leonidas,
a
well-regarded
Ordinals
collector,
users
and
speculators
alike
were
discussing
which
Runes
to
mint
and
trading
ticker
names.
Among
the
names
dropped
were
Taproot
Wizards,
the
Ordinals
project
co-created
by
Bitcoin
OG
influencers
Eric
Wall
and
Udi
Wertheimer,
and
a
project
called
Satoshi
Nakamoto,
named
after
Bitcoin’s
creator,
which
at
press
time
had
over
5,000
holders
who
minted
about
19,000
tokens.
Which
projects
will
actually
prove
to
have
long
term
value
is
hard
to
judge.
“Yeah,
I
don’t
see
any
good
memes,
like,
I
mean,
I’m
just
trying
to
figure
it
out,”
one
trader
said.
“To
be
quite
frank,
I
haven’t
minted
anything
yet.”
“I’m
trying
to
understand
the
space
in
general
right
now,”
someone
else
responded.
“These
projects
are
like
early
Runes.
Do
you
guys
think
that
these
are
actually
going
to
be
the
most
valuable
ones?”
“I
think
it
depends
what
happens
with
them,”
someone
responded.
Another
aspect
to
consider:
how
many
of
the
tokens
were
“pre-mined,”
or
held
in
reserve
for
project
creators
to
potentially
release
on
the
market
later.
Prior
to
the
halving,
Leonidas
shared
guidelines
that
suggested
projects
that
pre-mine
more
than
10%
of
the
token
supply
were
“greedy.”
“I
think
the
pre-mines
are
going
to
be
the
ones
that
win,”
one
trader
said.
“Because
like,
it’s
so
hard
to
come
up
with
a
good
meme
with
a
13
character
limit,”
he
said,
referring
to
the
hardcoded
naming
system
Rodamor
added
to
Runes
to
try
to
prevent
“ticker
squatters.”
In
time,
Runes
tickers
will
be
able
to
list
with
shorter
names.
Within
three
years,
there
could
be
Runes
projects
with
three-letter
tickers,
for
instance.
Though
it’s
unclear
how
well
this
strategy
will
play
out.
According
to
data
source
Ordiscan,
one
forethinking
developer
has
already
blocked
off
a
series
of
tickers,
including
ZZZZ
(which
will
be
the
“first
four
letter
Rune”
to
mint
in
two
years),
ZZ
and
Z
(the
first
two
letter
and
one
letter
Runes
to
mint
in
three
years)
and
A
(the
last
single
character
Rune
to
mint
in
four
years).
In
other
words,
with
something
so
new,
it’s
hard
to
determine
what
to
value.
“As
everybody
is
scrambling
to
figure
out
what
the
hell’s
going
on,
I
want
to
just
take
a
moment
to
say
it’s
awesome
being
here
with
all
of
you,”
Leonidas
told
his
audience.
“This
is
essentially
the
start
of
a
new
protocol
that
kicked
off
about
30
minutes
ago.
So
let’s
see
what
happens.
I
think
it’s
going
to
be
very
chaotic.”
