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Arthur Hayes reveals philosophy behind ‘Airheads’ Ordinals collection

Users can choose to complete quest-like directives to receive Airheads or outright purchase the inscribed art through a “Whale Pass.”

Crypto entrepreneur and investor Arthur Hayes recently revealed the details and philosophy behind his new “Airheads” Ordinals, a collection of 10,000 unique cartoonish characters that are balloon-like in appearance and live on the Bitcoin network.

In an article published on his Medium page, Hayes began by explaining that the consumption of art is what gives life its true meaning. He then gave several examples of activities the human race engages in purely for enjoyment and the entertainment of others, such as dance, culinary arts, music and sports:

The entrepreneur then shifted his focus to the core philosophical message behind the Airheads Ordinals collection, explaining that the balloon-like characters represent an indictment against the inflationary policies of the elite class and centralized governments. Each Airhead is “metaphorically filled with the inflation of our day,” said Hayes.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Hermetica Introduces Bitcoin-Backed Synthetic Dollar on Bitcoin L1

Hermetica Introduces Bitcoin-Backed Synthetic Dollar on Bitcoin L1Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (defi) protocol Hermetica has launched its BTC-backed synthetic dollar, USDH, on Bitcoin’s layer one (L1) through the Runes protocol. The company also announced plans to scale its Bitcoin-native defi operations using layer two (L2) solutions like Stacks. Hermetica Launches BTC-Backed Stablecoin USDH Hermetica‘s USDH offers Bitcoin holders a new way to maintain […]

El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Did Bitcoin Runes already peak?

Tokens on the Runes Protocol are down from their peak, but don't count them out yet. The protocol is less than three months old — and it's just getting started.

Block 840,000, mined on April 19, 2024, was special for Bitcoin (BTC). In addition to marking the fourth halving of the world's largest blockchain, it also signaled the launch of the Runes Protocol, currently the most popular for creating fungible tokens on Bitcoin.

While token creation is common on blockchains such as Ethereum (ETH) or Solana (SOL), this practice is relatively new for Bitcoin, only becoming popular in 2023. Tokens on the Runes Protocol — launched in April — are even more recent.

Over the last 15 years, traditional media declared Bitcoin dead numerous times. Similarly, tokens created on the Runes Protocol are already considered dead by some critics.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Bitcoin Runes hype fades, transactions plummet 84%

Bitcoin Runes protocol caused an initial surge in Bitcoin transactions, exceeding 50% at its peak. Did the hype clog clear out?

The Bitcoin Runes protocol is struggling to maintain its share of Bitcoin transactions. Since its launch on April 20, Runes transactions have dominated Bitcoin blockchain traffic on eight different days, mostly during the weekends.

The Bitcoin Runes launch coincided with the fourth Bitcoin halving. The resultant hype saw transaction volume shoot up on the Bitcoin blockchain. Revenue from Bitcoin (BTC) mining exceeded the $100 million mark for the first time, recording an all-time high daily earnings of $107.7 million.

Transactions attributed to the Runes protocol accounted for over 50% of all Bitcoin transactions until April 24. The peak occurred on April 23, when these transactions represented 81.3% of the bandwidth. However, by May 2, this figure had dropped to 11.1%.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Bitcoin’s Runes Protocol Hype Falls Short: Significant Drop in Activity and Fees

Bitcoin’s Runes Protocol Hype Falls Short: Significant Drop in Activity and FeesIt has been 29 days since the halving and the launch of the Runes protocol, and since May 1, Runes activity has been underwhelming, falling short of the expectations set months prior. Similarly, the trend of Ordinals inscriptions has significantly declined over the past month. Runes Protocol’s Initial Excitement Dwindles Amid Decreased Activity Before the […]

El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Runes protocol sees significant decline in activity

Despite generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in daily fees, Runes has only surpassed $1 million in total fees twice in the last twelve days, signaling a notable decline.

The Runes protocol’s activity has decreased significantly since its first week of trading. On May 10th specifically, there was a notable decline in activity, with very few new mints and new wallets interacting with the protocol compared to previous periods.

According to a Dune analytics dashboard compiled by Runes Is, the protocol’s fee revenue has been declining steadily. Although Runes still earns hundreds of thousands of dollars daily in fees on the Bitcoin blockchain, the total fees have only surpassed $1 million on two occasions in the last twelve days, indicating a significant downward trend.

Runes is a new Bitcoin (BTC) token standard that allows users to create fungible tokens on the blockchain. They were created by Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, which enabled Bitcoin nonfungible tokens.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Epic Satoshi ​​Spurs Launch of New Runes Tokens With $88M Market Cap

Epic Satoshi ​​Spurs Launch of New Runes Tokens With M Market CapAccording to onchain data, the ‘epic satoshi’ sold for 33.3 BTC has been inscribed, now linked to a freshly minted Runes protocol coin named “EPIC•EPIC•EPIC•EPIC.” The newly introduced EPIC runes tokens have already commenced trading, achieving a market capitalization of $88 million by 11 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. From Epic Satoshi to EPIC•EPIC•EPIC•EPIC Runes […]

El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Crypto Biz: The Bitcoin summer, Avalanche integrates with Stripe, and more

This week’s Crypto Biz features the Lightning Network rollout on Coinbase, Avalanche integration with Stripe, MicroStrategy earning results and BlackRock’s new tokenized fund.

While developers have long focused on the Ethereum network, the Bitcoin ecosystem is making a comeback, with several initiatives now aiming to innovate on the original blockchain.

Recent developments include the growing ties between Bitcoin and decentralized finance (DeFi), driving the demand for layer-2 protocols to unclog the Bitcoin blockchain and reduce transaction fees as on-chain activity soars.

Major players like Coinbase are also reviewing Bitcoin offerings. The crypto exchange finally added the Lightning Network as an alternative for users seeking to transfer Bitcoin (BTC), following Binance’s similar move nearly a year ago.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

Bitcoin L2s set to explode as Runes congest BTC network

High transaction fees and network congestion from the Runes protocol are increasing demand for Bitcoin layer-2 solutions.

The need for Bitcoin layer-2 (L2) solutions has become more apparent than ever following the launch of the Runes protocol

Runes are a new Bitcoin (BTC) token standard allowing users to create fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. They were created by Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals, which enabled Bitcoin nonfungible tokens.

While notable, Runes’ popularity has resulted in astronomical Bitcoin transaction fees and unprecedented network congestion.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal

New record: Bitcoin processes 1.6M confirmed payments in a day

The launch of Bitcoin Runes played an important role in the spike in the total number of transactions over the Bitcoin network.

Amid increasing Bitcoin (BTC) use for day-to-day purchases, the Bitcoin network recorded the highest number of confirmed payments on April 23. 

Three days after stepping into the new halving cycle on April 20, the Bitcoin network processed over 1.6 million unique transactions between sender and receivers.

Comparing data from Blockchain.com and Glassnode shows a direct correlation between the launch of Bitcoin Runes — an alternative to Bitcoin Ordinals and the BRC-20 protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain — and the spike in daily Bitcoin transactions.

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El Salvador makes Bitcoin payments voluntary in $1.4B IMF loan deal