Bitcoin Meme Coin PUPS Fuelled by Hype Ahead of Runes Release

Hype surrounding the upcoming Runes protocol saw Bitcoin meme coin PUPS jump some 50% in the past 24 hours as traders look to bet on Bitcoin-adjacent tokens and networks ahead of the halving.

The meme coin was trading over $66 as of Asian afternoon hours with a $516 million market capitalization, making it the third-largest Bitcoin-based token behind ORDI$4.0519 and sats (SATS).

PUPS led global sales and volumes among all NFT collections, Cryptoslam data shows, with over $11 million in volumes. Uncategorized Bitcoin Ordinals collections and NodeMonkes were next with $7 million and $1 million in volumes – continuing a trend of interest in Bitcoin NFTs from earlier this week.

PUPS has rocketed over 1,000% in the past week, data shows, and was widely considered the “first” meme coin on Bitcoin – helping fuel virality and interest. Developers on Friday denied the claim.

PUPS is currently offered as an Ordinals token but intends to shift to the upcoming Runes protocol after the halving. Traders on social media platform X are hyping up Runes as the sector to look forward to, following a frenzy in the Solana and Base ecosystems.

What is Bitcoin Runes?

The upcoming Runes protocol is expected to go live after Bitcoin's halving. It will take the Ordinals protocol a step ahead by making transactions even more cheaper and faster – and traders say it’s a sector to watch for in the coming weeks.

Ordinals are a way to embed data into the Bitcoin blockchain by inscribing references to digital art into small Bitcoin-based transactions.

Runes takes this concept further by utilizing a UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) protocol to generate transactions. This allows tokens to create, name, and transfer digital commodities only using the Bitcoin network.

UTXO is a technical term for the small amount of tokens that may remain after a cryptocurrency transaction.

Ordinals and Runes are both projects by long-time Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor, which has created trust and lent an idea of authenticity among users.

Rodarmor said in an X post earlier in April that the protocol is designed for “degens and meme coins,” fuelling hype among meme coin traders.

“Runes were built for degens and memecoins, but the protocol is simple, efficient, and secure. It is a legitimate competitor to Taproot Assets and RGB,” he said. The ordinals library provides everything needed to encode and decode runestones, so integration should be straightforward.”

“I'm highly skeptical of "serious" tokens, but runes are without a doubt a "serious" token protocol,” Rodarmor added at the time.