After the Bitcoin Halving, Will the Runes Protocol Live Up to the Hype?

At the time of the Bitcoin halving, Runes will go live. What’s the hype about, how does it work, and how might it impact the miners?

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Not only will April 20 (or 19, depending on which part of the world you are) mark the fourth Bitcoin halving, but also the launch of a new primitive on Bitcoin called Runes Protocol.

Charlie Spears, co-founder of Blockspace Media, joined Unchained to talk about all things Runes, which is a messaging protocol that allows for the creation of fungible tokens on Bitcoin. It is designed to fix some of the issues with the BRC-20 token standard, such as inefficiency and proliferation of unspent transaction outputs. Charlie believes that the launch of Runes will increase demand for Bitcoin's blockspace and potentially lead to higher transaction fees. He also discusses the potential for Runes to interact with Bitcoin covenants and layer two solutions.

Show highlights:

What Runes are and why Charlie believes that it is the hottest thing since Ordinals
The differences between Runes and BRC-20 fungible tokens
Runes’ unique features, with Charlie pointing out that this is “what the degens really want”
Whether the Runes Protocol will create a “burst of demand” and have a positive impact on miners
Whether the launch of Runes will be successful in the long-term and how Bitcoin’s blockspace could become more attractive
Whether Bitcoin L2s will help clear Bitcoin’s memepool, and why Charlie believes that they won’t reduce fee pressure on the base layer
The coolest things that Runes Protocol will enable, according to Charlie
How Taproot Assets and RGB differ from Runes and why they have not taken off
Why Casey, the founder of Runes, will claim the first inscription with Uncommon Goods

Thank you to our sponsors! iTrustCapital | Polkadot

Guest

Charlie Spears, cofounder of Blockspace Media

Links

Recent coverage on Unchained of the Bitcoin halving: Arthur Hayes and Will Clemente on How This Bitcoin Halving Is Different

Runes

Unchained: What Are Runes? A Guide to the New Fungible Token Protocol on Bitcoin

Bitcoin Runes Explainer by Charlie Spears

BRC-20s and Ordinals:

Unchained:

What Are BRC-20 Tokens? A Brief Introduction

Bitcoin’s BRC-20 Mania: Is It Sustainable?

How to Create a Bitcoin Ordinal

Bitcoin Ordinal NFTs Are Hot and Getting Hotter. What's the Hype About?

Halving

Unchained:

Bitcoin Halving: What Is It & How Is It Determined?

Here’s Why No One Agrees Exactly When The Bitcoin Halving Will Happen

Bitcoin Miners Diversify Their Revenue Streams as Halving Nears

Bitcoin L2s

Unchained:

Stacks’ Muneeb Ali On Why Bitcoin Is Exciting Once Again

Citrea: An Ethereum-Like Experience Built on Bitcoin?

How Botanix Aims to Enable Smart Contracts on Bitcoin

Unchained Podcast is Produced by Laura Shin Media, LLC. Distributed by CoinDesk. Senior Producer is Michele Musso and Executive Producer is Jared Schwartz.

HOST

Laura Shin

Laura Shin is a crypto journalist, host of the Unchained podcast, and author of “The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze” (Public Affairs, 2022). Formerly a senior editor at Forbes, she was the first mainstream journalist to cover crypto full-time, and her podcasts and videos have had more than 15 million downloads and views. Shin has spoken about cryptocurrency at places such as TEDx San Francisco, the International Monetary Fund, Singularity University and the Oslo Freedom Forum.

She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with Honors from Stanford University and has a master of arts from Columbia University’s School of Journalism. She lives in New York City.