Runes Exploits Network’s Design Flaw: Bitcoin Core Dev Insists

As an experienced analyst in the crypto industry, I’ve closely followed the developments surrounding Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr’s criticisms of the Runes protocol. Dashjr’s concerns are valid and reflect the broader apprehensions within the community regarding the implications of these new protocols on the original principles of Bitcoin.


Luke Dashjr, a prominent Bitcoin core developer, expressed strong criticism towards the Runes protocol in a recent post on X (previously known as Twitter). He highlighted that this new protocol takes advantage of weaknesses inherent within the Bitcoin network. Fears about the potential risks posed by the Runes protocol have been shared widely among the crypto community, and Luke Dashjr’s statement echoes these concerns.

Runes, as described by him, take advantage of inherent design weaknesses, while Ordinals expose and exploit vulnerabilities in the blockchain. Both innovations were introduced by Casey Rodarmor, representing his second significant advancement based on the original technology.

As a analyst, I’ve noticed that there has been growing concern among critics regarding Dashjr and certain developers, who they believe have strayed from the original principles of both protocols. Additionally, these projects have faced criticism for contributing to network congestion, despite the substantial increase in Bitcoin miner fees.

Bitcoin Ordinals can be thought of as being similar to non-fungible tokens residing on the blockchain, yet they have distinct implications compared to Runes. On April 26, a cryptocurrency enthusiast announced that Ocean Mining had mined its initial block following the Bitcoin halving – this block was reportedly comprised of 75% Runes. The enthusiast then asked Dashjr to clarify why he had been mining Runes, which some consider as inferior cryptocurrencies, or if there had been a change in his stance.

“Scammy” Dashjr Mounts Criticisms

Dashjr points out that they don’t prescribe which blocks miners should create, instead giving them the freedom to choose. Simultaneously, he reaffirms his viewpoint regarding Runes being fraudulent.

Despite the unfortunate fact that numerous questionable Runes have been extracted, they adhered to the guidelines OCEAN has advocated all along. Although Ordinals represent a nine-pronged assault that takes advantage of Bitcoin Core’s weaknesses, Runes can be considered a less complex five-pronged attack that technically complies with the regulations.

Runes Debates Continue

Among cryptocurrency advocates, there exists a contentious debate regarding the significance of Runes within the Bitcoin ecosystem. On the one side, detractors argue that a fundamental flaw in the Bitcoin protocol can result in confirmed transactions that ultimately fail. These transactions, known as “double-spends,” occur when the same bitcoin is inadvertently spent more than once due to network delays or other complications. The confirmation of such failed transactions through mining is seen by some as an unnecessary complication and potential source of confusion within the community. However, proponents of Runes argue that they provide a valuable layer of security and resilience to the Bitcoin network by enabling users to protect against double-spends. Essentially, Runes serve as a secondary confirmation mechanism, enhancing the overall reliability and trustworthiness of transactions within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

From my perspective as a crypto investor, some people argue that the Bitcoin protocol change could result in increased scam transactions. However, I believe that Bitcoin miners stand to gain significantly from this update, having reaped substantial rewards following the halving event. The Bitcoin halving reduced mining rewards by half, prompting many miners to advocate for alternative solutions like Rune.

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2024-04-26 20:53