Can the Runes protocol become the mainstream issue coin standard in the crypto market?

The ERC20 protocol of Ethereum, as the most widely used token standard in the encryption field, has had a tremendous impact on the entire industry. It has not only propelled Ethereum to become a mainstream smart contract platform but also laid the foundation for the development of decentralized finance (DeFi), while simplifying the process of project financing and entrepreneurship.

Currently, many emerging public chains are trying to replicate the successful model of Ethereum, hoping to establish their own token ecosystem. To achieve this goal, new public chains typically need to have two key elements: a sufficiently large market capitalization and an innovative issue coin protocol.

In the current market environment, the Runes protocol may be the most promising standard for issuing coins that can surpass ERC20. This is mainly based on the following reasons:

1. Bitcoin accounts for about 50% of the total market value of cryptocurrencies, providing strong infrastructure support for Runes.

2. The fair issuance mechanism of BRC20 inscriptions has gained wide recognition from the community.

3. The Runes protocol has been improved based on BRC20, combining the advantages of BRC20 and ERC20, and runs directly on the Bitcoin mainnet.

The core features of the Runes protocol include:

• Use the op_return field of UTXO to describe operations such as token deployment, issuance, and transfer.
• Supports flexible token issuance methods, allowing for a completely fair launch, reserving a portion of the tokens for team financing, or a combination of both.

Compared to BRC20, Runes have the following advantages:

• A more flexible issuance mechanism that is conducive to project teams for financing.
• A more efficient transfer process without the need for additional engraved transactions.
• Supports batch transfers, improving transaction efficiency.

Compared to ERC20, the advantages of Runes are:

• Based on the Bitcoin network, with a more solid foundation.
• As an emerging protocol, it has greater growth potential and market attention.
• Compatible with the fair issuance mechanism of BRC20, in line with the mainstream narrative of the current crypto market.
• Complex business logic can be achieved through Bitcoin Layer2 solutions.

The specific implementation details of the Runes protocol include:

1. Deploy: Achieve the issuance of tokens by including specific information in op_return.

2. Mint: Users can mint tokens through simple operations under specific conditions.

3. Transfer: Use UTXO with runes and the op_return field for token transfer.

Although the Runes protocol has shown great potential, ERC20 still has the first-mover advantage and a mature ecosystem. Whether Runes can ultimately surpass ERC20 to become the mainstream issue coin standard will require time for verification and market recognition. Regardless, the emergence of Runes undoubtedly brings new possibilities and innovations to the crypto market.