There is a noticeable shift in Binance’s stance towards Ordinals, as its head of product, Mayur Kamat, previously expressed optimism about the future of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency space in May. A week later, however, Binance experienced a significant decline in revenues and trading activity. This downturn can be attributed to a combination of factors, including the rise of Runes – a new standard for efficient deployment of fungible tokens on Bitcoin, which has quickly gained popularity.
Runes’ debut resulted in a surge in demand for memecoins, causing a sharp decline in the market share of Ordinals. Notably, Binance’s decision to exit the Ordinals market is not solely responsible for this shift, as the exchange has faced restrictions in multiple countries. Instead, other marketplaces like OKX and Magic Eden have absorbed the majority of transactions, raising questions about Binance’s potential future support for Runes.
Despite the recent decline in demand for Ordinals, the broader demand for Bitcoin NFTs remains significant, positioning Bitcoin as the second-largest blockchain for NFT sales volume. This development raises doubts about the wisdom of Binance’s decision to withdraw support for Ordinals, particularly if interest in Bitcoin NFTs experiences a resurgence.
