Magic Eden to Support Runes Fungible Token as Bitcoin Ordinals Bet Pays Off
Magic Eden co-founder Zhuoxun Yin revealed that the cross-chain NFT marketplace will support the upcoming Runes fungible token. The chief operating executive hailed the Runes fungible token as a supercharger to the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The announcement of Runes fungible token unveiling on Magic Eden coincides with the NFT marketplace regaining the top spot as a payoff from the growing interest in the Bitcoin Ordinals. The Friday, March 29 announcement affirmed Magic Eden will fully support Runes fungible token on the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The cross-chain NFT marketplace posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) that Ordinals were rewarding to welcome Runes. The video illustrated that the future of the Bitcoin ecosystem rested upon the Magic Eden.
The Runes protocol will be unveiled on Bitcoin’s mainnet days after the halving, and it is expected to occur on April 20. Halving involves a quadrennial event integrated into the Bitcoin protocol, where the Bitcoin earned in each block mined is reduced in half. Halving is integrated into the network code to check and slow the expansion of the Bitcoin supply, thus boosting the asset price.
Runes to Supercharge Bitcoin Ecosystem
Runes involve a fungible token standard affiliated with Casey Rodarmor. The Bitcoin developer behind the creation of the Ordinals protocol is now an inscribed media running on the blockchain.
Although fungible tokens are not new on the Bitcoin blockchain, Runes involves an experimental BRC-20 token standard running on the Ordinals. Runes fungible token is pitched as an efficient mechanism to mint and trade on Bitcoin.
Yin observed that the Runes would further supercharge the Bitcoin ecosystem by ushering in a wave of builders and assets that were only possible on rival layer-1 chains.
Yin said that Magic Eden has a long-term conviction on the native Bitcoin ecosystem, realizing accelerated activity given that the Ordinals marketplace surpassed $1 billion in 2024 trade volume. The chief operations head called it a no-brainer for Magic Eden to double down on the ecosystem by integrating Runes into the existing Ordinals marketplace.
Magic Eden Welcomes NFT by Non-Fungible DAO
At the onset of 2024, Magic Eden unveiled the Diamonds rewards program and availed it across all the supported chains, including Polygon, Solana, Ethereum, and Bitcoin. The initiative rewards point-like diamonds to the NFT traders for past and existing trades, though it is uncertain how they will benefit the users.
Parallel to the Diamonds reward initiative, the independently run Non-Fungible DAO plans to unveil a fungible token – NFT. The NFT will reward traders in open-source trading and users of minting protocols that Magic Eden created.
Launching NFT tokens and diamonds and increasing interest in Bitcoin-focused assets gives Magic Eden a fresh footing to rank in the top NFT marketplace in trading volume. This is possible given that Bitcoin has sustained a surge that recently tested all-time high prices.
A review of the early March activity saw Bitcoin Ordinals demand propel Magic Eden to account for a 38% share of the NFT market’s volume. The platform accounted for the largest volume within 24 hours, according to the public blockchain data from the analytics firm Tiexo.
Magic Eden Tops NFT Marketplaces
Magic Eden leadership has widened lately, with Tiexo reporting that the marketplaces account for over 68% of the entire trading volume while Tensor commands 28.67%. The Bitcoin Ordinals trades dominate by accounting for 69% of the entire tally.
A huge chunk of the trade volume arises from the buzzy unveiling of the Ink project running on Bitcoin Ordinals. The project accounted for 19.8% of Magic Eden’s trading volume, translating to $18M per the marketplace’s data.
A review of the marketplace activity in the past week reveals that Magic Eden tops the segment, though Ethereum-based Blur has edged closer. Magic Eden accounts for the 35.7% market share, while Blur has 32%. Tensor ranks third at 7.5% share with the Solana-centric revealing plans to unveil the TNSR native token.
