Runes & Ordinals: An Update on Bitcoin NFTs

In early 2023, Bitcoin took on a new identity. For over a decade, it had been defined as “digital gold”, a secure, censorship-resistant form of money. But with the launch of Ordinals, Bitcoin suddenly became a canvas for culture. Users could inscribe data directly onto individual satoshis, turning them into NFTs native to Bitcoin’s base layer. Art, collectibles, and even meme tokens began appearing on the world’s most secure blockchain.

Momentum accelerated in 2024 with the release of Runes, a protocol designed to create fungible tokens on Bitcoin. Coming just as Bitcoin’s fourth halving captured global headlines, Runes launched with a frenzy of activity. Thousands of tokens were minted in days, dominated by meme coins chasing speculative profits. For a short period, Bitcoin felt less like a conservative monetary network and more like Ethereum or Solana during peak NFT mania.

But while the hype was undeniable, it was also fleeting. Just months later, inscriptions and Runes started losing traction, leaving behind big questions: were these innovations a lasting expansion of Bitcoin’s ecosystem, or simply another short-lived speculative wave?

How Ordinals and Runes Work

Ordinals

Ordinals are built on the idea that every satoshi (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) can be uniquely numbered. By attaching data  like text, images, or code directly to a satoshi, users can “inscribe” it, effectively creating a Bitcoin-native NFT. Unlike NFTs on Ethereum or Solana, which rely on smart contracts and off-chain metadata, Ordinals exist fully on-chain, embedded directly into Bitcoin’s ledger.

The pitch was compelling: permanent, immutable digital artifacts stored on the most secure blockchain in the world. For collectors and artists, that permanence gave Ordinals an aura of credibility and scarcity.

Runes

Launched during the April 2024 halving, Runes expanded Bitcoin’s experimentation beyond NFTs into fungible tokens. It was designed to replace the earlier BRC-20 token standard, which had proved inefficient and bloated Bitcoin’s mempool. Runes streamlined token issuance, opening the door for meme coins, community tokens, and potentially new financial primitives to live on Bitcoin.

Together, Ordinals and Runes suggested a radical shift in Bitcoin’s identity from a monetary network focused on scarcity and security to a playground for cultural and speculative experiments.

The Rise: Early Hype and Market Attention

Ordinals quickly captured attention in both crypto-native and mainstream circles. For months in 2023, inscriptions drove unprecedented activity on Bitcoin. Collectors chased early projects like Bitcoin Puppets or one-off digital artworks that fetched eye-popping sums. The appeal was simple: the first NFTs on Bitcoin carried a sense of historical significance.

• Fee spikes: At their peak, Ordinals caused Bitcoin transaction fees to soar, with some users paying over $20–30 to inscribe images. This generated controversy but also underscored demand.
  
  
• Marketplace boom: New platforms emerged almost overnight to support buying and selling Ordinals. Despite Bitcoin’s lack of smart contracts, marketplaces cobbled together infrastructure to trade inscriptions.
• Cultural attention: Bitcoin, long seen as slow-moving compared to Ethereum’s DeFi and NFT innovation, suddenly looked experimental again.
  
  

Traders treated the protocol’s debut like a “Bitcoin-native ICO rush.” Meme coins with little utility were minted en masse, and speculative activity temporarily made Bitcoin one of the busiest NFT and token networks in crypto.

For a brief moment, Bitcoin wasn’t just digital gold, it was the hottest chain for digital culture. But the wave of activity was short-lived.

The Reality Check: Where Things Stand Now

Declining traction

After the initial burst of speculation, transaction volumes tied to both Ordinals and Runes fell sharply. NFT collections struggled to retain communities, and marketplace activity slowed as traders returned to Ethereum and Solana, where liquidity and creators are more established. For Runes, most meme coins saw fast boom-and-bust cycles, leaving little long-term value behind.

Network impact

The hype came with side effects. Fee spikes during peak Ordinal and Runes activity alienated parts of the Bitcoin community. Long-time users complained that speculative inscriptions were crowding out Bitcoin’s primary use case: peer-to-peer money. For developers, this sparked a philosophical divide: should Bitcoin embrace experimentation, or does this distract from its core mission of a sound store of value?

Institutional disinterest

Unlike Bitcoin ETFs or corporate treasury adoption, which have drawn major institutional inflows, Ordinals and Runes have remained almost entirely retail-driven. The lack of institutional engagement has limited their staying power. Without regulated products, established brands, or mainstream creator adoption, they risk remaining a niche curiosity rather than a durable new layer for Bitcoin.

Why Traction Slowed

The slowdown in activity around Ordinals and Runes isn’t surprising when you look under the hood. Several structural and cultural challenges have held back sustained adoption:

Ecosystem Gaps

Ethereum and Solana NFTs thrive because of the infrastructure and purpose of the underlying chain. By contrast, Bitcoin’s NFT infrastructure is still immature. Wallet support, indexing standards, and trading platforms remain fragmented, making it harder for collectors and creators to engage consistently.

Costs and User Experience

Bitcoin’s blockspace is scarce and expensive compared to NFT-first chains. Inscribing data directly onto the blockchain is resource-intensive, pushing fees higher during periods of demand. For traders accustomed to the low-cost mints and fast confirmation times on Solana, Bitcoin’s slower and pricier environment made NFT activity harder to sustain.

Community Divide

The Ordinals and Runes boom highlighted a cultural fault line within Bitcoin. Some welcomed the experimentation as proof that Bitcoin could evolve beyond “digital gold.” Others saw it as spam, cluttering the chain and raising fees for ordinary transactions. This divide has created uncertainty for builders: is there long-term support for NFTs and tokens on Bitcoin, or will resistance from Bitcoin purists limit their growth?

Speculative Burnout

Much of the early demand for Ordinals and Runes was speculative. Collectors rushed to mint the first inscriptions and tokens, hoping to capture historical value or quick profits. But speculative manias fade quickly if real utility or vibrant communities don’t emerge. Once the novelty wore off, trading volumes followed the same downward path.

What the Future Might Hold

While the initial hype has cooled, Ordinals and Runes may still carve out specific niches in Bitcoin’s broader ecosystem. Their future depends on whether builders and communities can address current shortcomings.

Archival Niche for High-Value Assets

Bitcoin’s permanence and security make it a strong candidate for high-value, archival NFTs. Historical documents, cultural artifacts, or unique works of digital art could find a home on Bitcoin precisely because they’re unlikely to be deleted or altered. This niche is less about trading and more about preservation which could sustain long-term use.

Infrastructure Improvements

Wallets, marketplaces, and indexing services are improving steadily. If Bitcoin-based NFTs become easier to trade and manage, they could attract a broader audience. Infrastructure maturity was a turning point for Ethereum NFTs, and the same could happen for Ordinals if developers keep building.

Peripheral Role in Bitcoin’s Identity

The most realistic scenario is that Ordinals and Runes remain peripheral. They may never rival Ethereum or Solana in NFT activity, but they could persist as experimental layers that showcase Bitcoin’s flexibility. For Bitcoin’s core identity as sound money and institutional asset, their impact will likely remain secondary.

Final Thoughts

Ordinals and Runes represented one of the boldest attempts to expand Bitcoin’s cultural footprint. They proved that Bitcoin can host NFTs and tokens providing a breakthrough that many thought impossible just a few years ago. But the burst of activity also revealed the limits of hype-driven growth: without robust ecosystems, clear utility, and institutional participation, traction has slowed.

The legacy of Ordinals and Runes may not be mainstream adoption, but rather the proof that Bitcoin can support experimentation at the edges. Whether they evolve into stable niches or fade into history, the episode has shown that even Bitcoin is not immune to waves of innovation and speculation.

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