Memecoins
Bitcoin Meme Coins Rise as DOG’s 85% Jump Allays Fears That ‘Runes Are Dead’
The emerging market of BitcoinMeme-based coins showed signs of life on Thursday, as the price of several so-called Runes tokens rose, while the value of memetic assets on other networks fell.
The market capitalization of meme coins followed by CoinGecko had fallen 4.6% over the past day to $66 billion, but the Bitcoin Runes token DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (aka DOG) rose 20% to $0.007, at the time to write these lines. Not far behind, Bitcoin-based meme coin PUPS also surged 15% in the past 24 hours.
DOG is now up 85% in the past week alone, setting a new all-time high price of $0.007542 on Wednesday evening. Its market capitalization now stands at almost $730 million.
Like many meme coins, Bitcoin-based assets have only been around for a short time. But their launch is linked to the release of Bitcoin Runesa protocol developed by Casey Rodarmor, who previously popularized NFT-similar assets (called inscriptions) on Bitcoin after the launch of its Ordinals protocol last year.
Describe by Rodarmor as “a place for people to create shitcoins”, several runes compete for attention in the middle of a constant lock of Solana-based coins which were launched via platforms like Pompe.fun.
And since the debut of Runes in April, alongside Bitcoin fourth half event, there was a noticeable drift in terms of interest, said Charlie Spears, co-founder of Blockspace Media. Decrypt. But it is true for BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin as well, issued via an old fungible token protocol.
“Right now, neither Runes nor BRC-20 have a ton of narrative momentum,” he said.
The popularity of meme coins on Ethereum And Solana, compared to those based on Bitcoin, reflects a technical gap and a lackluster user experience, Spears said. Meme coins have been around for several years on other networks, but on Bitcoin the concepts and technology are new.
“Right now, especially with meme coins being the resurgent crypto sector, […] people don’t really care how a Rune or a BRC-20 works,” Spears said. “They want to trade them as quickly and with as much liquidity as possible.”
Even though the price of runes increased significantly on Thursday, the asset trading volume was minimal compared to other meme coins. The aforementioned DOG recorded a trading volume of $97 million over the past day, while the Ethereum-based Pepecoin accumulated $1.5 billion over the same period.
Created by pseudonymous Twitter influencer (aka On Thursday, the account highlighted DOG’s performance amid “a sea of red» for other parts even.
Whether it’s other meme coins like Floki, Bonk, or Dogwifhat, a set of canine-themed coins have emerged in the wake of Dogecoin. Encouraged by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2021, Dogecoin’s rapid popularity has effectively created a pseudo-model that other memetic assets can follow on networks like Ethereum and Solana.
Among dog-themed tokens, Bitcoin-based DOG led in terms of weekly gains, posting a 73% increase. However, several tokens inspired by former President Donald Trump rose more, speaking of the changing political context around crypto in the United States
Decentralized exchanges, where anyone can list a token, are at the heart of the number of meme coins traded as novel assets, which are often tied to little utility or information. However, currently the Runes mainly trade on centralized exchanges like OKX or marketplaces like Magic Eden.
Over the past 30 days, total sales volume of Bitcoin-based collectibles (including BRC-20s, Inscriptions Ordinals, and Runes) dropped 70% to $180 million from the period previous, according to CryptoSlam data. But as more robust solutions for rune trading are developed, Spears said Dog’s performance may challenge the narrative that “runes are dead.”
“Leonidas’ DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON token was quite powerful, which generated a lot of discussion on the Internet,” Spears said. “I think right now everyone is waiting to see if runes as a market sector for fungible tokens comes back.”
Edited by Andrew Hayward
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment or other advice.