<\/p>\n
Runes users can now move their assets across Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks.<\/p>\n
Just ten days after its mainnet launch, Runes, the new protocol for issuing fungible tokens on Bitcoin, is poised to spread onto new networks following an integration by Omnity.<\/p>\n
Announced on April 29, Omnity, an\u00a0Internet Computer Protocol<\/a>\u00a0(ICP)-based \u201comnichain interoperability protocol,\u201d integrated Runes. Omnity describes itself as a tech stack enabling connections between \u201cany Layer 1, Layer 2, or appchain\u201d and the Bitcoin network, meaning the integration allows users to move Runes onto new networks.<\/p>\n \u201cOmnity is the first protocol to support Runes interoperability,\u201d Omnity said. \u201cICP\u2019s on-chain Bitcoin integration is essential because it brings smart contract functionality to Bitcoin without having to trust wrapped BTC from centralized bridging services, opening up new possibilities for DeFi and Dapp development without congesting the Bitcoin network and driving up transaction fees.\u201d<\/p>\n Omnity allows cross-chain Runes transfers by minting a \u201cTwin Token\u201d when users seek to move Runes between networks.\u00a0The Twin Tokens leverage Internet Computer\u2019s ICRC-2 standards and Chain Fusion Technology\u00a0\u2014 which enables\u00a0users to read and write to Bitcoin from ICP.<\/p>\n Runes celebrated its mainnet launch on April 20 after\u00a0airdropping Runestones<\/a>\u00a0to more than 90,000 wallets that were previously active in the Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem in March.<\/p>\n Runes were first proposed by Casey Rodarmor, the investor of the Ordinals inscription technique, in September 2023 Ordinals burst onto the scene in early 2023, comprising a method for creating NFT-like assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. Domo, an anonymous developer, quickly followed up with the creation of the BRC-20 token standard, which leverages Ordinals to create fungible tokens.<\/p>\n While BRC-20 tokens quickly exploded in popularity, the standard has garnered criticism for being data-intensive, driving mempool congestion, and pushing up transaction fees on Bitcoin.<\/p>\n Runes sought to address the inefficiencies associated with BRC-20 by streamlining asset data storage and indexing, introducing compatibility with the Lightning Network Bitcoin Layer 2 network, and introducing \u201chomomorphic binding\u201d with Bitcoin unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs).<\/p>\n \u201cRunes is a token standard that operates natively with Bitcoin and eliminates the \u2018junk\u2019 UTXOs of previous standards like BRC-20,\u201d Omnit said. \u201cIts design efficiency positions it to serve the Bitcoin network in a role analogous to Ethereum\u2019s ERC-20 tokens.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Runes is now a major source of transaction volume on Bitcoin and contributing to sky-high\u00a0transaction fees<\/a>\u00a0on the network. According to Ycharts, average Bitcoin transaction fees surged to an all-time high of $128.45 on April 20 as Runes launched.<\/p>\n Omnity said its integration will reduce congestion on Bitcoin by shifting transactions onto ICP.<\/p>\n The integration comes after the implementation of Ordinals-inspired inscription protocols onto new Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks in late 2023 drove transaction throughput to new\u00a0all-time highs<\/a>\u00a0on multiple chains.<\/p>\n Rapidly spreading inscription protocols drove throughput gains of\u00a04,500%<\/a>\u00a0on Near,\u00a06,900%<\/a>\u00a0on Polygon, and\u00a08,990<\/a>% on Fantom in a matter of just days. Combined Layer 2 throughput also jumped to 152.1 transactions per second (TPS) on Dec. 16 from 45.5 TPS two days prior, marking record highs on Arbitrum, ZkSync Era, and\u00a0Mantle<\/a>\u00a0each hosting record activity in late December.<\/p>\nRunes\u2019 explosive growth<\/h2>\n
Inscriptions spread across web3<\/h2>\n