Bitcoin Runes struggles as transaction volume drops by 2024 end

The Bitcoin Runes protocol, which had a daily transaction count exceeding 750,000 on April 23, has seen a significant decline in transaction volume by the end of 2024, with daily transactions now struggling to reach 100,000.

Following its launch, the Runes protocol initially enjoyed a dominant presence on the Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) network.

On April 23, Runes processed over 753,000 transactions, representing more than 81% of all transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, surpassing even the Ordinals protocol, BRC-20s, and Bitcoin itself.

Despite early success, Runes experienced a sharp drop in transaction volume in mid-May.

Although there was a temporary resurgence in June, the protocol witnessed an 88% decline toward the month's end.

By the middle of the year, the transaction count continued to struggle, marking a shift in the protocol's popularity.

By July, Runes saw its transaction share fall below 9% of the Bitcoin network, reflecting waning interest in Bitcoin-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Even so, the protocol had recorded over 15 million transactions within its first four months, accumulating over $160 million in fees by August and 15.6 million NFT transactions.

However, after this brief resurgence, Runes' transaction activity sharply dropped again in September, continuing its decline through the last quarter of the year.

Throughout December, Runes maintained less than a 10% share of Bitcoin transactions, with a slight spike on Christmas Day to 19.9%.

This downturn mirrors the broader decline in NFT interest, which saw a significant slump in the earlier months of 2024.

NFT sales hit a low point in September, dipping below $300 million for the first time since 2021, before briefly recovering toward the end of the year.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin price was $95,689.85.