BRC-20 token standard spurs meme coin frenzy on Bitcoin

The BRC-20 token standard has ignited a meme coin frenzy on the Bitcoin blockchain. There is a marked increase in meme token volume, market capitalization, and transaction fees.

The cryptocurrency world is buzzing with the emergence of the BRC-20 token standard on Bitcoin, primarily driven by the rising prominence of meme coins like Pepe (PEPE) and Memetic (MEME).

This standard has been employed to mint more than 8,500 tokens, most of which are meme coins.

The BRC-20 standard, based on Ethereum’s ERC-20, empowers developers to generate and exchange fungible tokens using the Ordinals protocol.

Despite its resemblance to ERC-20, BRC-20 differs in its lack of reliance on smart contracts. It also requires a Bitcoin wallet to mint and trade tokens.

Introduced by an anonymous on-chain analyst, Domo, in early March, the BRC-20 standard was designed to facilitate the creation and transfer of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin mainnet.

Recently, the market cap of BRC-20 tokens has soared, reaching a staggering $120m, a 600% rise in just one week.

The popularity of BRC-20 meme tokens has seen them flip bitcoin transactions. Between April 29 and May 2, more files were attached in blocks than traditional monetary transfers.

Subsequently, this surge has forced transaction fees up. Since late April, miners have earned an additional 109.7 BTC in fees from the network.

The meme coin phenomenon, previously concentrated on the Ethereum blockchain, is now spilling over into Bitcoin. As the BRC-20 standard is adopted, the Bitcoin network fees would likely be congested, forcing fees even higher.