Bitcoin Ordinals developer proposes an alternative to BRC-20

The founder of the Ordinals Bitcoin protocol, Casey Rodarmore, proposed launching Runes, a new protocol for fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network. According to him, it should become an alternative to the experimental BRC-20 token standard.

New terrible idea just dropped: Runes.

A worse-is-better fungible token protocol for Bitcoin.https://t.co/TPVrUvWxm8

— Casey (@rodarmor) September 25, 2023

The BRC-20 standard was launched in March 2023. Within two months, BRC-20’s market capitalization reached $1 billion, and PEPE and ORDI became the most famous Bitcoin-based tokens.

BRC-20 allows for the minting and transfer of fungible tokens through the Ordinals protocol. But the problem with BRC-20 tokens is that they clog the network with unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs), Rodarmore argues.

In his blog, the founder of Ordinals indicated on the “unwanted consequences of UTXO proliferation” and suggested Runes as an alternative.

TLDR on Runes — A potential fungible token protocol for Bitcoin

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— Casey remains skeptical, citing “99.9% are scams and memes,” but recognizes they don’t appear to be going away.
— Employs a UTXO-based system, notably simpler than BRC-20.
— Uses the letter ‘R’ in the… https://t.co/zYP43f70gh

— Franken (@ItsFranken) September 25, 2023

Rodarmore also added that other fungible token protocols, including Really Good for Bitcoin, Counterparty and Omni Layer, have their own problems. Finding a suitable solution will increase the value of the Bitcoin network.

The Ordinals Show host Trevor Owens announced an award of $100,000 from the Bitcoin Frontier Fund to developers who can create a working Runes application based on ideas proposed by Casey Rodarmore.

Meanwhile, trading volume for assets created using the Ordinals Bitcoin protocol continues to decline. It has fallen more than 97% since May 2023. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared his opinion on Ordinals and its impact on the Bitcoin network.