• Press Releases
    • Submit a press release
    • Read All
  • Contact us
Advertise
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
    • Price
      • Bitcoin Price
      • Ethereum Price
      • Binance Coin Price
      • Litecoin Price
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • How to do Crypto Gambling
      • Crypto Casinos
        • Ethereum Casinos
        • Solana Casinos
        • LiteCoin Casinos
        • DogeCoin Casinos
        • Live Crypto Casinos
        • New Casinos
        • Instant Withdrawal Casinos
        • Cash App Casinos
        • No KYC Casinos
        • VPN Casinos
        • Offshore Casinos
          • Crypto Casinos IT
          • Crypto Casinos ES
            • All Guides
          • Crypto Casinos JP
          • Crypto Casinos SG
          • Crypto Casinos MY
          • Crypto Casinos KR
          • No GAMSTOP Casinos in UK
          • No Cruks Casinos NL
      • Crypto Betting
        • No ID sportsbooks
    • Play Crypto Games
      • Crypto Poker
      • Crypto Slots
      • Crypto Blackjack
      • Crypto Crash Gambling
        • Aviator Sites
      • Plinko
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
  • Events
  • Play Games
Breaking News: Ledger CTO Warns Of Crypto Clipper Malware Following Major NPM Breach
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
    • Price
      • Bitcoin Price
      • Ethereum Price
      • Binance Coin Price
      • Litecoin Price
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • How to do Crypto Gambling
      • Crypto Casinos
        • Ethereum Casinos
        • Solana Casinos
        • LiteCoin Casinos
        • DogeCoin Casinos
        • Live Crypto Casinos
        • New Casinos
        • Instant Withdrawal Casinos
        • Cash App Casinos
        • No KYC Casinos
        • VPN Casinos
        • Offshore Casinos
          • Crypto Casinos IT
          • Crypto Casinos ES
            • All Guides
          • Crypto Casinos JP
          • Crypto Casinos SG
          • Crypto Casinos MY
          • Crypto Casinos KR
          • No GAMSTOP Casinos in UK
          • No Cruks Casinos NL
      • Crypto Betting
        • No ID sportsbooks
    • Play Crypto Games
      • Crypto Poker
      • Crypto Slots
      • Crypto Blackjack
      • Crypto Crash Gambling
        • Aviator Sites
      • Plinko
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
  • Events
  • Play Games
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
Breaking News: Ledger CTO Warns Of Crypto Clipper Malware Following Major NPM Breach
Bitcoin News

From Ordinals To Runes: Bitcoin’s Major Update Arrives With Halving

Jake Simmons
by Jake Simmons
1 year ago
·
Posted in Bitcoin News
Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

On Thursday, Bitcoin Ordinals founder Casey Rodarmor unveiled the documentation for a new Bitcoin-native digital commodities protocol known as Runes. This groundbreaking update is set to coincide with Bitcoin’s upcoming halving, marking a significant evolution in the Bitcoin protocol’s capabilities for handling digital assets directly on its blockchain.

RUNES HAVE DOCS

A plain-english description of the protocol is here:https://t.co/2d8eHGtLjJ

And a lower level not-actually-a-specification is here:https://t.co/w87yWmTk0g

Feedback and suggestions are welcome, here or on GitHub!

— Casey (@rodarmor) March 28, 2024

What Are Bitcoin Runes?

Runes introduce a novel fungible token protocol on Bitcoin, utilizing an indexer-based model that builds upon the social consensus mechanisms first popularized by the Ordinals initiative. This new protocol facilitates the etching, minting, and transferring of Bitcoin-native digital commodities, potentially altering the landscape of how digital assets are created and exchanged on the Bitcoin network.

Related Reading: Hedge Fund Goes Long Bitcoin, Short MicroStrategy: Details

According to analysis by ren (wassie arc) (@0xren_cf) from Electric Capital, shared via X (formerly Twitter), “The biggest update since Ordinals is coming to BTC at the halvening… RUNES.” Ren’s analysis highlights several key features and improvements that Runes brings to the table:

  • Simplified Transactions: Unlike the BRC-20 token standard, which requires multiple transactions for deployment, minting, and claiming, Runes streamline these operations into a single transaction.
  • Extendability and Future Proofing: Runes feature an even-odd field tagging system within their protocol, allowing for future extensions and programmability through soft forks.
  • Larger Namespace for Tokens: Runes expand the available character space for token names up to 28 characters, compared to BRC-20’s four-character limit.
  • Security Enhancements: Runes addresses several security concerns, including the prevention of spoofing through the exclusion of Unicode symbols and mitigating the risk of token balance lockup by attackers.
  • Unique Token Naming: Runes enforces unique naming for tokens, preventing the creation of tokens with duplicate names. “Rune names shorter than 13 characters will be gradually released over a 4 year period after the runes launch to prevent immediate grabbing of the shortest names,” Ren remarked.

One of the most innovative aspects of the Runes protocol is its approach to token issuance and transfer. Utilizing a UTXO-based system, Runes tokens are directly issued into a UTXO during the transaction that sets their initial supply, ticker symbol, and decimal precision. This mechanism not only aligns closely with Bitcoin’s native design principles but also enables more efficient and flexible management of token balances and transfers.

Related Reading: Glassnode Data Shows Bitcoin at Crossroads: Time to Hold or Take Profit?

The introduction of Runestones, described as the “precompiles” for Runes, further enhances the protocol’s capabilities. These instructions, stored within the OP_RETURN of a transaction, facilitate the movement of Runes from inputs to outputs and ensure future compatibility through an even-odd tagging system.

However, users are cautioned to be mindful of the specific tags used, as even-tagged Runestones can lead to the effective burning of the involved Runes, a process referred to as creating a “Cenotaph” by Rodarmor.

Vision For The Future

Looking forward, the Runes protocol aims to support a wide array of applications and interactions, from intricate inscriptions that could, for example, influence the abilities of digital collectibles based on the amount of a specific Rune held, to facilitating off-chain liquidity pools for Rune trading. This opens up new possibilities for decentralized finance (DeFi) on the Bitcoin network, a prospect that has garnered excitement within the community.

Ordiswap Labs, through a statement on X, emphasized the potential of Runes to enhance the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem, noting the protocol’s efficient on-chain footprint and compatibility with existing Bitcoin standards, including the Lightning Network. “Runes aims to provide a simple, Bitcoin-native token system with a unique issuance model and efficient on-chain footprint […] Runes are one that we are now specifically looking into, and we cannot be more excited about the potential of the BTC DeFi ecosystem in the coming months!”

💡 Runes Standard on Bitcoin, Explained

TL;DR: Runes aims to provide a simple, Bitcoin-native token system with a unique issuance model and efficient on-chain footprint — its UTXO (unspent transaction output) approach differing from standards like BRC-20.

While BRC-20 is the… pic.twitter.com/MYKaLVjVhR

— Ordiswap (@OrdiswapLabs) March 27, 2024

The activation of the Runes protocol is strategically timed to coincide with the Bitcoin halving, with expectations set for a block height of 840,000, around April 20.

At press time, BTC traded at $70,366.

Bitcoin price
BTC price, 4-hour chart | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
Featured image created with DALL·E, chart from TradingView.com
Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.
ShareTweetShareShare

Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.

I consent to my submitted data being collected and stored.
Jake Simmons

Jake Simmons

Follow

Jake Simmons has been a Bitcoin enthusiast since 2016. Ever since he heard about Bitcoin, he has been studying the topic every day and trying to share his knowledge with others. His goal is to contribute to Bitcoin's financial revolution, which will replace the fiat money system. Besides BTC and crypto, Jake studied Business Informatics at a university. After graduation in 2017, he has been working in the blockchain and crypto sector. You can follow Jake on Twitter at @realJakeSimmons.

Full Profile

Related Posts

ethereum-bitcoin-volume-spot-tournant-historique

Ethereum dépasse Bitcoin en volume spot : un tournant historique ?

1 hour ago
Bitcoin Supply Flows From Giants To Mid-Sized Holders – Details

Bitcoin Supply Flows From Giants To Mid-Sized Holders – Details

7 hours ago
Bitcoin news

New Bitcoin Reserve Bill Pressures Treasury On Custody Rules

10 hours ago
Bitcoin

“Buy More Bitcoin Before It’s Too Late,” Michael Saylor Tells The US Government

11 hours ago
Bitcoin Accumulator Demand Skyrockets To Record 266K BTC – Strong Holder Conviction

Bitcoin Accumulator Demand Skyrockets To Record 266K BTC – Strong Holder Conviction

18 hours ago
Bitcoin

Strategy Announces New $214 Million Bitcoin Purchase, Now Controls 3.2% Of BTC Supply

23 hours ago

Premium Sponsors

Press Releases

  • miner

    Mint Miner Launches Smart Mining App to Help XRP...

    1 hour ago
  • miner

    7 Highest-Rated and Most Popular Cloud Mining Apps in 2025...

    6 hours ago
  • XRP

    Quickly make XRP “mine and earn money”, and...

    9 hours ago
  • XRP Holders

    LET Mining: A Passive Income Engine for XRP Holders...

    11 hours ago
  • miner

    Ripple (XRP) is attracting investor interest: ALL4 Mining...

    15 hours ago

Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.

Bitcoin

  • News
  • Price
  • Businesses
  • Acceptance
  • Technology
  • Investment
  • Regulation
  • Reviews

Altcoins

  • News
  • Price
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Litecoin
  • EOS

Categories

  • Blockchain
  • Security
  • FinTech
  • Technology
  • Trending
  • Breaking News
  • Press Releases
  • How to

About Us

  • Advertise
  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy
© 2025 Bitcoinist.com. All Rights Reserved.
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
    • Price
      • Bitcoin Price
      • Ethereum Price
      • Binance Coin Price
      • Litecoin Price
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • How to do Crypto Gambling
      • Crypto Casinos
      • Crypto Betting
    • Play Crypto Games
      • Crypto Poker
      • Crypto Slots
      • Crypto Blackjack
      • Crypto Crash Gambling
      • Plinko
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
  • Events
  • Play Games
Advertise

© 2025 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.