Magic Eden Supports Runes Token Trading on Bitcoin

On April 22, 2024, the NFT platform Magic Eden launched a new platform called Runes Platform in its testing phase.

Magic Eden Supports Runes Token Trading on Bitcoin

The Runes Platform allows users to swap for BTC and easily purchase Runes and Ordinals using the Magic Eden wallet. According to Magic Eden, the platform also features a "Swaps View" mode, enabling users to set up orders to acquire Runes with their existing BTC assets.

Speaking to The Block, Magic Eden Co-Founder and COO Zedd Yin stated: "As early supporters and builders in the Ordinals market, it's crucial for us to build the best possible Runes experience in this important phase for Bitcoin. We take pride in driving growth in the industry, reinforcing why Magic Eden is the ultimate stop for everything Bitcoin."

Bitcoin Ordinals is a protocol allowing users to create and own NFTs directly on the Bitcoin network, while enabling users to attach a unique identifier and transact with additional data in satoshis (sats). Runes Protocol represents a further development of Ordinals, facilitating more efficient token creation on the network.

"Runes can provide a safer and more reliable platform for token creation and trading. By utilizing UTXOs to store data on-chain, it inherits Bitcoin's security model, enhancing safety features and reducing security vulnerabilities," Magic Eden noted in a website post.

Runes tokens saw significant trading volume on Magic Eden as of the morning of April 23, 2024.

BRC-20 is currently the token standard used within Bitcoin, but it generates surplus "junk" UTXOs that congest the network and degrade user experience. Runes Protocol stores data directly in UTXOs, allowing a single UTXO to own multiple tokens with varying amounts, thereby reducing network congestion and enhancing user experience on Bitcoin.

This superior advantage has attracted significant interest in the protocol, particularly following the fourth Bitcoin halving on April 20, which drove Bitcoin fees higher and brought substantial revenue to miners. The momentum behind Runes has led to the emergence of numerous projects on this protocol, promising to expand the Bitcoin ecosystem in line with other leading blockchains like Ethereum and Solana.

Comparing with other NFT platforms based on user data shared by @mdudas on X, Magic Eden currently holds the top position with a trading volume of approximately 630 million USD over the past month, doubling the market share of Blur, which stands at around 270 million USD.

According to data from The Block, Magic Eden has generated a daily trading volume of 23.42 million USD for Bitcoin Ordinals across NFT markets.

Magic Eden has been supporting Bitcoin Ordinals through the Bitcoin NFT market since March 2023. In addition to Bitcoin and Solana, the Magic Eden wallet currently supports Ethereum and Polygon networks. Earlier this year, the NFT platform revealed plans for decentralization through the issuance of governance tokens coded as NFTs.