Traders bet on RUNE, STX, and ORDI following Bitcoin halving
As Bitcoin’s highly anticipated halving event looms closer this month, traders are gearing up for a potential surge in activity across related networks and ecosystem tokens. The halving, which halves the rate at which new coins are created, is expected to reduce the current block reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, historically signaling the onset of a bullish market for the token.
Traders seek opportunities in the Bitcoin ecosystem
In anticipation of this event, traders are on the lookout for opportunities, with many eyeing the Bitcoin ecosystem for potential gains. According to the OTC desk of trading firm Wintermute, there is a massive pool of untapped capital within the Bitcoin ecosystem, with relatively few listed assets available for traders to gain exposure to this narrative.
Tokens like RUNE, STX, and ORDI are poised to benefit from a potential capital rotation into the Bitcoin ecosystem, traders say. RUNE, associated with THORChain, and STX, linked to the Stack blockchain, have demonstrated strong performance over the past year, closely tracking Bitcoin’s rise. Meanwhile, ORDI, a meme coin inspired by the Ordinals protocol on Bitcoin, has surged by over 2,500% since its issuance in September.
Bartosz Lipinski, founder of the crypto trading platform Cube. Exchange, predicts that meme coins and upcoming protocols like Runes could drive speculative activity within the Bitcoin ecosystem. He suggests that Ethereum’s high costs and network congestion may cause it to take a backseat, redirecting attention to Bitcoin-based projects such as Runes.
However, Runes, set to launch on the day of the halving, aims to introduce fungible tokens to replace the existing Ordinals NFT standard, facilitating the efficient creation of meme coins to compete with projects on other ecosystems like Base and Solana.
Rise in interest in Ordinals
The surge in interest in Ordinals, which embed data into the Bitcoin blockchain, has led to higher volumes compared to Ethereum and Solana in the past week. Notably, trading activity for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on other networks has declined by 95%, indicating a concentrated interest in Ordinals.
As traders prepare for the Bitcoin halving, the ecosystem is abuzz with anticipation, with meme coins and emerging protocols like Runes capturing the attention of investors seeking opportunities in the evolving crypto landscape.
