Runestone is the largest Ordinals airdrop event so far, and the current floor price on the OKX NFT market is 0.04177 BTC. What exactly is Runestone? What are the characteristics of the Runes protocol behind it that has caused such FOMO in the market?
What is Runestone?
Inspired by RSIC, Ordinals OG and Ord.io founder Leonidas celebrated the launch of Ordinals technology by airdropping to over 112,383 Bitcoin addresses, one of the largest Bitcoin Ordinals airdrops to date. Leonidas stressed that while Runestone as a project does not seek any practical applications or functionality, its value as a cultural and memorabilia has attracted great attention in the crypto community.
The Runestone project is based on the Ordinals protocol, and it is designed as a pre-Runes project. This means that once Casey Rodarmor's Runes protocol is released, people who participate in the Runestone airdrop will be able to convert it into Runes tokens. This conversion is expected to occur within 8 weeks after the Runes protocol goes live. When Leonidas first proposed the idea of this airdrop, Casey also commented under the tweet to discuss how to reduce Gas consumption, which was regarded as a soft support by the community. The name "Runestone" comes from a tweet from Casey, the founder of Ordinals, when Casey said that he was developing a feature implementation called Runestone under the Runes protocol. This "edge" makes Runestone's meme attributes burst.
Although Runestone currently has no direct application scenarios, its wide distribution and community culture have attracted widespread attention from the community. It not only heralds the innovative application of digital assets and NFTs on the Bitcoin network, but also provides a new perspective for culture and community building in the crypto field.
Another important milestone for the Runestone project was the mining of the largest block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Thanks to the collaboration with Marathon Digital and Ordinals Bot, this 3.97 MB block not only demonstrated its technical strength, but also reflected the exploration of Ordinals technology. In addition, Runestone auctioned this largest block, which was successfully hammered down at a record price of 8 BTC. The proceeds of the auction were used to cover the network fees related to the airdrop. This strategy not only supports the Bitcoin ecosystem, but also demonstrates the Runestone project’s commitment to giving back to the community.
In addition to the narrative of "Fairness" + "Airdrop" + "Rune", Runestone is so FOMO in the secondary market. Many community members believe that this is because Runestone is different from the previous Inscription season. It has both Chinese and Western crypto communities. consensus, while the previous Brc-20 was more attended by the Chinese-speaking community. Some even think that Runestone will become the biggest MEME in this bull market.
In summary, the Runestone project not only demonstrates the innovative potential of Ordinals technology and the market's expectations for the Runes protocol, but also explores new forms of crypto assets as souvenirs and cultural symbols. Whether the successful airdrop of Runestone and the frenzy of trading on the secondary market herald the official beginning of the Rune Age has become a topic worthy of attention.
What are Runes?
Now that we have learned about Runestone, let’s explore the Runes protocol in depth.
The Runes protocol, originated from Casey Rodarmor, founder of Ordinals, aims to introduce a new type of asset, runes, on the Bitcoin network. As an improved version of BRC-20, the protocol is committed to solving the efficiency and operational complexity problems caused by its reliance on inscriptions, and proposes a more concise and efficient Bitcoin asset issuance and management framework.
First of all, the Runes protocol has excellent compatibility and scalability, and can be seamlessly connected with Bitcoin’s UTXO model and second-layer protocols based on it, such as Lightning Network and CKB. Compared with other homogeneous token protocols such as BRC-20, Runes has significantly improved operational efficiency and user experience through simplified transaction processes and token balance management directly bound to UTXO.
The Runes protocol supports Simple Payment Verification (SPV) wallets, providing users with a lightweight transaction experience that traditional BRC-20 cannot achieve. It also provides developers with a more friendly and accessible development environment by providing reference implementations and emphasizing compatibility with existing Bitcoin scripts and address types.
Secondly, Runes provide greater flexibility in token issuance, allowing token names with lengths ranging from 1 to 28 characters, and adopting a variety of innovative issuance mechanisms, including but not limited to fixed total issuance and public inscription issuance, and even considering more expressive issuance methods. The fixed total issuance method is more centralized, with the issuer directly inscribing all Runes and then distributing them; while the public inscription method is based on specific parameter settings, such as block height or timestamp, and the number of assets inscribed by users within a specified time determines the final total amount of the Runes. This not only enriches the token design space of the Bitcoin ecosystem, but also improves security and effectively avoids some common security risks.
In terms of UTXO management, Runes avoids the complexity and security risks that may be brought about by the witness part of the transaction through the use of OP_RETURN scripts, reduces unnecessary UTXO generation, and thus improves the overall health and efficiency of the network.
The design philosophy of the Runes protocol is to reduce the on-chain footprint, encourage the optimization of UTXO usage, and integrate it seamlessly with Bitcoin's infrastructure. It aims to handle alternative tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain in a more concise and intuitive way, thereby promoting the development and innovation of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
As Bitcoin is about to usher in the next round of halving, it is expected that the Runes protocol will be officially ready to debut at the important moment of block height 840, 000. The specific launch time depends on the mining speed of blocks, but according to the current block generation rate, it can be expected to be in late April 2024. This time point marks the official entry of the Runes protocol into the Bitcoin ecosystem, opening a new chapter in the issuance and management of homogeneous tokens on the Bitcoin network.
It is worth noting that on the eve of the launch, existing protocols, such as Merlin, have stated that they will 100% provide cross-chain bridges, DEX, indexers, minting services, and more incentives for Runestone and Runes protocols. This comprehensive support not only reflects the BTC community's recognition of the potential of the Runes protocol, but also demonstrates the cryptocurrency community's common pursuit of innovation and progress.
Although Runes is still in its early stages, the widespread attention and discussion it has attracted in the cryptocurrency community has proven its innovation and application value. Through a simplified UTXO model and an efficient token transfer mechanism, the Runes protocol not only brings new vitality to the Bitcoin network, but also opens up new possibilities for the diversified development and technological innovation of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
