The statement “There’s never a dull day in crypto” is something that has never not held true, especially with new innovations constantly emerging to push the boundaries of what’s possible within this space.
In this regard, early last year, two such innovations – namely Ordinals and Runes – took the Bitcoin ecosystem by storm, promising to bring new functionality to the world’s first and most valuable cryptocurrency.
However, their meteoric rise was followed by an equally rapid decline, leaving many to wonder: What happened, and what’s next?
Ordinals, introduced in January 2023, allowed for the inscription of data directly onto individual satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin), enabling the creation of Bitcoin-native NFTs and sparking a wave of creativity and speculation within the Bitcoin community.
Similarly, Runes, launched in April 2023, built upon this foundation by introducing fungible tokens to Bitcoin’s previously NFT-only Ordinals ecosystem. The launch of Runes was particularly impactful, being timed perfectly with Bitcoin’s recent halving, which concluded on April 20, 2023.
The introduction of fungible tokens to Bitcoin’s ecosystem was met with immense enthusiasm. In its opening week, Runes skyrocketed transaction fees, netting miners and early investors an impressive $135 million. However, in the months since, the number of transactions associated with runes and ordinals has dwindled significantly.
Bitcoin transaction types and their volumes (source: Dune Analytics)
Moreover, even though the number of unique wallet addresses (UAWs) associated with these Runes is on the rise, the actual fees paid for “etching” them have slipped significantly over the past month.
Fees paid for etching Runes over the past 90 days (source: Dune Analytics)
As the dust continues to settle on the future of the Runes and Ordinals, new applications seem to be emerging, allowing users to deploy their BTC in different, potentially more sustainable ways.
For instance, Stacks is enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to use Bitcoin as a base layer, effectively extending Bitcoin’s security capabilities without altering its core protocol. Not only that, it is also helping unlock billions in latent capital while maintaining a high degree of operational decentralization.
Another promising project in this regard is Merlin Chain, a Layer 2 (L2) that utilizes future-ready technologies such as ZK-Rollup networks, decentralized oracle networks, and on-chain BTC fraud-proof modules to maximize Bitcoin’s use cases.
Lastly, RSK (Rootstock) has taken a somewhat different approach, positioning itself as a general-purpose smart contract platform secured by the Bitcoin network. By porting smart contracts over from Ethereum, RSK makes all Ethereum applications compatible with the Bitcoin blockchain.
However, amidst all of these innovative projects, one platform that has really carved a niche for itself is Zeus Network. The project provides a decentralized, secure communication layer designed to maximize interoperability when transferring value between blockchains, with a particular focus on Bitcoin and Solana.
Built on the Solana virtual machine (SVM), Zeus aims to synchronize the security and liquidity of the Bitcoin blockchain with the scalability, speed, and affordability of Solana’s network.
Its architecture revolves around two critical components. First is the ‘Zeus Layer,’ an off-chain peer-to-peer (P2P) network comprised of nodes that enable efficient operation and contribute to the network’s decentralized nature. The second module is the ‘Zeus Program Library (ZPL),’ which consists of a set of programs that act as an interface for developers to build on top of the Zeus Network, powered by the SVM.
By using these two components synergistically, the Zeus Network allows Bitcoin investors to perform liquid staking on the Solana network by wrapping their BTC into a ZPL-Asset, thus opening up a world of possibilities — including the communication of Bitcoin Runes and Ordinals with decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and marketplaces, borrowing and lending between the two chains, and greater access to cross-chain NFT tools.
Lastly, it bears mentioning that the Zeus dev team recently announced the upcoming launch of its two long-awaited upgrades (namely ZeusScan and Muses Wallet), resulting in a 20% hike in ZEUS’s value (that platform’s native token).
ZeusScan offers real-time monitoring and management of ZPL assets on Solana (providing visibility, security, and specialized insights for asset tracking), while Muses Wallet serves as a multi-chain wallet extension during the public testing phase, helping manage ZPL assets on Solana and other blockchains.
According to a recent study by popular crypto exchange Bybit, the Bitcoin L2 sector is set to keep growing over the coming few years, thanks, in large part, to the approval of several US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) (an event that has bolstered Bitcoin’s trading volume in recent months).
Thus, with the ecosystem set to evolve further, projects like Zeus are representing the next frontier in Bitcoin’s innovation. By focusing on interoperability, scalability, and real-world utility, they aim to succeed where technologies like Ordinals and Runes have seemingly faltered, potentially ushering in a new era of adoption.
This post was last modified on Jul 23, 2024, 11:18 BST 11:18