The creator of Bitcoin Ordinals is proposing an innovative alternative to the existing BRC-20 token standard in the world of Bitcoin. BRC-20, introduced by an anonymous developer known as “Domo” in March, achieved a staggering market cap of $1 billion within two months of its launch. Notable tokens like PEPE and ORDI are also created in the BRC-20 ecosystem.
BRC-20 enables the minting and transfer of fungible tokens via the Ordinals protocol on Bitcoin. However, it has a critical drawback, they flood the Bitcoin network with unnecessary and “junk” Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs).
To put it simply, they create a lot of digital clutter. UTXOs represent the leftover cryptocurrency balance in a wallet after a transaction, and they play a crucial role in preventing double spending on the Bitcoin blockchain.
To address this issue, the inventor of Bitcoin Ordinals is proposing a new approach called “Runes.” Runes aims to use UTXOs more efficiently, minimizing the creation of unnecessary transactions and reducing clutter on the Bitcoin network. In essence, it’s a more streamlined way to handle tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain.
During an X (Twitter) Spaces discussion, the inventor introduced the Runes concept, expressing some uncertainty about its future development. However, co-host Trevor Owens stepped in, offering $100,000 from the Bitcoin Frontier Fund to incentivize developers to bring the Rune application to life, thereby furthering this promising proposal.
The ultimate goal is to create a robust and efficient fungible token protocol for Bitcoin. This could potentially attract more users, spark greater developer interest, and generate additional transaction fee revenue for the Bitcoin network.
Earlier, we saw a similar upgrade in Ethereum in April with the Shanghai upgrade. The Shanghai upgrade marks Ethereum’s first major hard fork since shifting to a proof-of-stake system. Its main goal is to enable validator withdrawals by implementing EIP-4895. Beyond that, it brings substantial changes affecting Ethereum app developers and users.
Related Article: Shanghai upgrade accelerates ETH staking
On the other hand, the Dencun is Ethereum’s next major hard fork. It combines ‘Deneb’ for the Consensus Layer upgrade and ‘Cancun’ for the Execution Layer upgrade, named after the brightest star in Cygnus and the host city of Devcon 3 in 2017. The Cancun Upgrade was finalized, while the Deneb Upgrade is still being discussed by core developers.
Recently, as reported by Todayq News on September 23, 2023, the Ethereum Dencun upgrade faces potential delays. Developers discussed concerns about thorough testing before its mainnet launch for real transactions during a meeting on September 21.
