RUNELAB / DOCUMENTATION
Bitcoin Runes Explained
A concise guide to the Bitcoin Ordinals Runes protocol.
Protocol basics#
Bitcoin Runes is a fungible-token protocol specified by the Ordinals project. Protocol messages, called runestones, are carried in Bitcoin transaction outputs. The protocol defines operations for etching a new rune, minting where permitted, and transferring rune balances.
Confirmations and protocol limits#
Bitcoin Rune activity is interpreted from confirmed Bitcoin transactions and their UTXOs. Wallet and indexer support can differ, and protocol rules are distinct from ordinary Solana token programs. Consult the Ordinals specification for authoritative behavior rather than relying on a product interface to define the protocol.
Identifiers and balances#
A Bitcoin Rune has an identifier written as BLOCK:TX, derived from the transaction that etched it. Rune balances are assigned through Bitcoin's UTXO model: an output can carry rune balances, and subsequent transactions can allocate them to new outputs.