Among the craze of Inscriptions, can the orthodox Runes continue the myth of token protocols?

1. The debate between real and fake Runes

1.1 Origin of Runes

The Runes protocol was proposed by Casey Rodarmor, the founder of the Ordinals protocol, in his blog.

Casey expresses that although he is skeptical about creating alternative token protocols on the Bitcoin network. But, due to its current popularity and the lack of signs of the trend receding, as well as the advantages of generating significant transaction fee revenue for Bitcoin, attracting developer attention and user base, he attempts to compromise by creating a simpler and more efficient alternative token protocol. This protocol promises to optimize token operations in the Bitcoin ecosystem through a simplified UTXO model and an efficient token transfer mechanism.

The Runes protocol supports token issuance, allowing the creation of any number of tokens, as well as setting human-readable symbols and decimal places. Its transmission mechanism is based on tuples of integer sequences, involving token ID, output index, and allocation amount.

1.2 “Fresh” design of Runes protocol

Runes protocol characteristics

• When registering, you can specify divisibility (the effect is equivalent to decimal), supply, symbol (only supports one length of unicode characters) and rune name.
• The name characters must be uppercase letters, and the length is not fixed. The registration of shorter length runes will be gradually released as the block height increases.
• The name is non-repeatable, has a unique number starting from 0 in deployment order, and a unique id encoded by height and deployment order at the current height, for example 173940/256 represents the 256th rune deployed at the height of 173940.
• You can add . or • in the name as a separator for name display, which only affects name display and does not affect registration. For example, if you have registered CASEY·RUNES·EVERYTHING, you cannot register CASEYRUNES·EVERYTHING or CASEYRUNESEVERYTHING, etc.
• The distribution mechanism is to be determined: According to the current code, all supplies will be sent to the registrant’s wallet address during registration, and there should be changes in the future.

Advantages of Runes over BRC-20 protocol

• UTXO-based model: The Runes protocol adopts a UTXO-based system, which is more consistent with Bitcoin’s native architecture. It avoids dependence on off-chain data and has no need for native tokens, which makes the user experience smoother.
• Use OP_RETURN for transfer: The transfer of Runes is implemented through the OP_RETURN script, making the distribution and transfer of tokens more efficient.
• Issuance mechanism: The issuance of Runes is defined through a specific message format, which makes the token flow and distribution process more transparent and clear.
• More efficiency: The Runes protocol solves the UTXO proliferation and inefficiency issues in the BRC-20 protocol. It simplifies the operation process, and only one transaction is required for registration and transfer, thereby improving overall efficiency.
• Reduced on-chain footprint: Runes aims to minimize its on-chain footprint, reducing the generation of bad UTXOs.
• Lightning Network Compatibility: Runes are compatible with the Lightning Network, which opens up new use cases and possibilities for developers and users.
• Destruction mechanism: Runes entered into transactions containing invalid protocol information will be destroyed.

1.3 Runes imitator —— Rune Alpha

Due to its theoretical orthodoxy and advanced nature, the Runes protocol has attracted much attention from the Bitcoin community since it was proposed. However, its slow and lagging development progress has also given imitators the opportunity to imitate its ideas to build momentum and make profits.

Runes Deployer by Ordinals Wallet

As early as the second day when Casey first introduced the concept of the Runes protocol, Ordinals Wallet quickly followed suit and began deploying “Runes”. At the same time, they launched a comprehensive promotion campaign on the community, social media, and media. Although Ordinals Wallet seized the initial wave of interest in the Runes concept, as the hype faded, progress stagnated and everything came to a halt.

Rune Alpha

On December 5th, the Bitcoin network’s Rune Alpha project was officially launched, with its mainnet issuing its first token, $COOK. According to the Rune Alpha team, they have had technical exchanges with Casey. Rune Alpha is built on top of ord 0.11.1 and is written into the Ordinals repository.

In the Bitcoin community, some users eagerly anticipate the Runes protocol due to its similarity in name to the proposed Runes protocol by Casey. FOMO sentiment in the rapidly developing market has led to a surge of users participating in the Rune Alpha casting, mistakenly assuming it to be Casey’s Runes protocol.

On December 6, Casey tweeted that various Runes-related protocols and services have nothing to do with him. At the same time, when the official Runes protocol is launched, he will not retroactively identify these imitation disks. At the same time, some users said that problems such as assets being transferred and inscriptions being burned as gas occurred during the interaction. According to Rune Alpha, it was due to improper user operation that caused problems with the wallet. “The user has been warned in the Discord community.” .

Although Rune Alpha can no longer rely on the “legitimacy” narrative to continue marketing, the market’s FOMO and speculation still prevail. Rune Alpha’s inscription casting feature is “time-limited and unlimited”: users can mint within 150 blocks between 819863 and 820013. Each mint can be minted 1,000 pieces, and there is no limit on the total amount. According to Dune dashboard data, as of now (12.22 20:50), $COOK has been inscribed in all 150 blocks, with 199,153 pieces inscribed and 10,481 holders.

After the official release of Casey’s Runes protocol on the Bitcoin testnet signet, Rune Alpha quickly responded by deploying tokens on the signet and providing evidence through recorded operations and data analysis to demonstrate that Rune Alpha can be recognized and indexed by the official Runes protocol in version 0.13.1 of ord. Additionally, Rune Alpha is actively working on building its Marketplace in response to community demands.

However, according to the current code display, the official Runes protocol mainnet will start parsing at the block height of the Bitcoin halving, and it will only index tokens that are issued after the halving height and comply with the Runes protocol standards.

2. Voice of the community

Warm hug

1.Ordinals official community Ordicord https://discord.com/invite/ordinals

• Beginning in late September, community discussions about Runes began to rise.

• Starting from November, there has been a lot of discussion in the community about the implementation of Runes technology and the simulation disk. Users of the Ordinals ecosystem believe that Runes is an upgraded version based on the Ordinals protocol, and they generally hold an optimistic attitude. They are eagerly anticipating the technical progress of the official team, and the demand is high.

• After the Runes’ roadshow at Taipei Blockchain Week on December 16th, a new wave of discussion has emerged in the community. Community users have started to notice imitator Rune Alpha. At the same time, there are doubts about whether the first token deployed on the protocol, Cook, can be mapped to the official Runes protocol.
• Users began to actively go to the Bitcoin test network Signet to experience the Runes protocol, and community managers actively assisted users in solving problems.
• Referring to community conversations, it can be seen that the indexes of Runes and Ordinals on the testnet signet are currently incompatible with each other. After Runes is officially deployed to the Bitcoin mainnet, users need to rebuild a unified index.
• Compared with descriptions such as “inscription” and “inscribe” in previous protocols, the Runes protocol uses new terms such as “rune” and “etch”. The subtle changes in the description language also reflect the higher accuracy and lighter weight of the Runes protocol to a certain extent.

2.OrdinalHub https://discord.com/invite/ordinalhub

• Users in the OrdinalHub community are also full of recognition and expectations for Runes, and want to actively make their own contributions. However, due to the slow development progress of Runes and the lack of information, they feel somewhat helpless.

3.sating.io https://discord.com/invite/kcwE9jH67n

Oppositional boycott

UniSat Community https://discord.com/invite/unisat

• The official UniSat team expressed great interest in Runes and will keep an eye on the progress of the protocol and be fully prepared for technical support.

• Subsequently, UniSat added the Runes module, and the BRC-20 protocol added the token $rune.
• Some BRC-20 ecological users in the UniSat community have taken sides: “BRC-20 > Runes”. Individual interested BRC-20 “die-hard fans” firmly support the BRC-20 protocol, saying that the protocol is the most orthodox, decentralized, fair, and irreplaceable, and purchased the BRC-20 protocol token $rune to express their dominance over Casey. Resistance to the Runes protocol. (UniSat officials responded with a “like” gesture to this comment) At the same time, they questioned that Casey had been “slandering” the BRC-20 protocol because he wanted to develop a new protocol.

Neutral wait and see

1.ordinex https://t.me/ordinex

The leader of the ordinex community said at the end of October that ordinex began to pay attention to Runes. As a homogeneous token protocol, Runes is theoretically better than BRC-20; but he also retained a cautious attitude, saying that ordinary users would not pay much attention to a protocol. The technical logic behind the protocol, so for competition between different protocols, large-scale adoption in the market is the way to win.

2023.10.22

2023.10.23

2.Leather https://discord.com/invite/67cZyTz8w6

The developers of Leather wallet have added basic support for Runes in their github:https://github.com/leather-wallet/extension/issues/4273

1. Trac https://discord.com/invite/trac

Positive opinion that Runes is better than BRC-20:

According to the unfinished Runes code, the current mechanism is not “fair mint”. All supplies will be transferred to the registrant’s wallet address during registration. Subsequent changes are not yet clear. This is one of the reasons why many BRC-20 supporters criticize Runes. Some users in the Trac community believe that the Pipe protocol combines the advantages of the BRC-20 and Runes protocols.

in conclusion

1. Innovation and application value of Runes protocol:

The Runes protocol demonstrates the possibilities of implementing token functionality within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Its simplified UTXO model and efficient token transfer mechanism bring new power and scalability to the Bitcoin network. This marks a major expansion of Bitcoin’s capabilities, adding new application layers while maintaining its original features.

2. Comparison between Runes and BRC-20 protocols:

In terms of efficiency and user experience, the Runes protocol shows significant advantages over the BRC-20 protocol. Based on the UTXO model, Runes avoids dependence on off-chain data and the need for native tokens, providing a smoother user experience. In addition, the transparency of Runes’ issuance mechanism and token transfer process provides users with a clearer and safer operating environment.

3. Community response and acceptance:

The Runes protocol has attracted a lot of attention in the Bitcoin community. Despite the relatively slow progress of development, the community remains optimistic about the potential and application prospects of its technology. At the same time, the community has shown mixed reactions to the emergence of copycat projects such as Rune Alpha, reflecting the complex interests and diverse perspectives within the cryptocurrency space.

4. Future prospects and challenges:

The main challenge facing the Runes protocol is how to further improve its feasibility and acceptance in practical applications while maintaining its core advantages. In addition, competition with other protocols and the market’s ability to adapt to new technologies are also important factors for its future development.

To sum up, the Runes protocol, as an innovative attempt on the Bitcoin network, has demonstrated its potential in optimizing token operations. Although facing challenges from the community, market and technology, the emergence of Runes has undoubtedly injected new vitality and possibilities into the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. In the future, as the technology matures and the market becomes more recognized, Runes is expected to play an even more important role in the cryptocurrency field.

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