Bitcoin Runes Launch on Magic Eden in Attempt to 'Streamline' BTC Token Trading

Just days after the launch of Bitcoin’s buzzy Runes fungible token standard, leading cross-chain NFT marketplace Magic Eden has launched its promised Runes platform, aiming to ease some of the early headaches that traders have encountered around the tokens.

As enthusiasts grapple with the complexities of new technology, some traders have griped about the frustrations of the bumpy minting and trading experience around Runes. Whether it's running a node, minting via Xverse on Luminex, or trading on Unisat, the steep learning curve is evident.

Monday's launch of Magic Eden’s Runes platform, in beta, is the latest chapter in the company’s expanding embrace of the Bitcoin ecosystem. It has also arrived a day before its announced launch, which was originally scheduled for April 23.

Magic Eden isn’t new to the Bitcoin ecosystem; its early bet on the NFT-like Ordinals recently helped catapult the marketplace to the top of the rankings. Now it’s betting on Runes to continue that growth, with a move to consolidate trading tools and resources—and make it simpler for collectors and traders to manage their activities all in one venue.

“Having everything BTC-related in one place gives users an incredibly smooth experience. The current ecosystem is very fragmented; platforms for Ordinals, platforms for fungibles,” Magic Eden co-founder and COO Zedd Yin told Decrypt. “Being able to collect both in one place is going to streamline the process and give users a much better picture of everything they own and have collected on BTC.”

The team shared that the Runes marketplace will include two buying options for Bitcoin-based tokens: table view and swap view. The table view will give users the control to pick the lots and prices they want for a more customizable buying experience that’s superior to the card view typical of Bitcoin BRC-20 token purchases. 

“We will launch the swap view soon for users who want ultimate simplicity and efficiency,” he said of the upcoming alternative feature. “Just indicate the amount of BTC you’re willing to spend and the Rune you want to collect, and the platform will automatically find the best options.”

While users aren’t able to currently mint (or “etch”) Runes on Magic Eden, the team says this feature will also be coming soon. Luminex, a leading platform for minting and etching Runes, announced a collaboration with Magic Eden on Twitter (aka X) on Monday.

The Magic Eden team said that Runes collecting is also currently ineligible for its Diamond rewards program, though that will also change. Another feature to expect is the ability to more easily split lots of Runes. However, users can currently send a portion of their Runes to themselves to split up their lots as needed. 

Early Runes trends

Projects that jumped on the Runes trend early, in advance of the protocol launch, were able to secure very low numbers in Rune etching as they airdropped Runes to their Ordinals holders. For example, the CyberKongz Prometheans project was the second-ever Runes project minted, while Runestone secured the third Runes slot after the protocol launch for its Dog meme coin.

Initially, high fees on the first day of Runes posed a challenge for creators looking to etch their own Runes collections—though some creators were willing to pay massive fees to secure one of the first projects minted on the protocol. However, these fees have since decreased dramatically, opening the door for increased participation.

Similar to the trends observed with memes on Solana and Ethereum, the narrative around Runes is being shaped by memes and catchy ticker names. The token Satoshi·Nakamoto, for example, has gained popularity early on, largely due to its provenance as the sixth-ever Runes project and its association with the pseudonym of the Bitcoin creator.

“We’re seeing people fade Runes just like we saw people fading Ordinals a year ago,” said Trevor Owens, general partner of BTC Frontier Fund and investor in over 50 BTC startups. “There are technical things to be improved such as UTXOs, but I’m overall very bullish.” 

As Magic Eden attempts to take a significant step forward with its Runes platform, the impact on market volume and liquidity remains to be seen. This development could simplify the onboarding process for those who are underexposed to Bitcoin assets but curious, particularly for ETH and SOL maximalists. 

“We’re not done yet. We’re going to build this Runes product based on the great feedback and needs of the community,” Yin added, noting that a roadmap of new features is coming soon.

Edited by Andrew Hayward