Bitcoin Just Hit a New All-Time High, But Not in Price

In a significant development, the number of Bitcoin transactions has hit a new all-time high (ATH) of 927,000 just a few days after the Runes protocol was launched.

Bitcoin Transactions Hits New High 

Data from IntoTheBlock shows that the milestone was recorded on April 23 (three days after Runes launch) and breaks the previous high of 724,000 set in December of 2023.

The data shows that before this record was achieved, the number of Bitcoin transactions had increased rapidly, thanks to the newly introduced Runes protocol.

Launched on April 20, the Runes protocol aims to expand the functionality of the Bitcoin network by allowing users create their own fungible tokens (such as memecoins). Runes leverages the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) model inherent to Bitcoin to create digital assets with minimal on-chain footprint.

Runes’ Dominance 

According to the Dune Analytics dashboard, Runes account for most of the transactions on the Bitcoin network, representing 81% of the total. The dashboard shows that users have carried out around 3.6 million Runes-related transactions on the network since launch.

On the flip side, Runes has skyrocketed transaction fees on the network. According to IntoTheBlock data, Bitcoin daily fees peaked at over $80 million on April 20, breaking the previous record in December 2017. The average transaction fee on that same day surged to around $128, surpassing the last $30 peak during the Ordinals frenzy. 

Meanwhile, the price of BTC has been struggling since the launch of Runes, and the halving was completed on April 20. After hitting a high of $65,200 on that day, the flagship cryptocurrency has plummeted to around $64,000. However, bitcoin is not alone in its dip. The broader crypto market also saw its overall market capitalization drop to around 5%.