Xverse API migration and the Runes transition at Magic Eden

Xverse API adoption and migration

Developers moved toward Xverse following the March 9, 2026, deprecation of Hiro’s Ordinals, BRC-20, and Runes APIs. This transition requires teams to update base URLs and adjust endpoint paths to avoid service disruption. Xverse provides address-centric BRC-20 APIs that handle per-address balances and token-level metadata by ticker. While Xverse provides essential minting and transaction-level workflows, it lacks certain advanced filters found in the previous Hiro APIs, such as filtering by sat ordinal range or specific content length parameters. Xverse also supports Rune workflows, which include Rune metadata by ID and Rune balances per address. Because Xverse does not provide a global token registry or token holder lists, developers must aggregate data at the application layer. Developers who migrate from Hiro to Xverse must also account for differences in how data is aggregated between global views and per-address queries. Xverse also supports minting and order workflows via Sats Connect, which the previous Hiro Runes API lacked. Xverse also allows users to manage rare sats and runes. The Xverse L1 APIs remain fully open to all developers. You should check your specific endpoint requirements before finalizing the migration. Can developers maintain the same level of granularity without Hiro’s dedicated satoshi-level metadata?

Runes efficiency versus BRC-20 volatility

Runes replaced BRC-20 as the dominant fungible token standard because it uses the native UTXO model to prevent blockchain bloat. BRC-20 relies on off-chain indexers to interpret JSON data, which creates unspendable UTXOs. ORDI, the first BRC-20 token, saw a 100% price surge on April 16, 2026, which brought its price to $5.14. SATS, the largest BRC-20 by market capitalization, gained 57% in that same session. ORDI carries a maximum supply of 21 million tokens, whereas SATS has a maximum supply of 2.1 quadrillion tokens.

In April 2024, the Runes protocol launched at the Bitcoin halving to address the technical weaknesses of BRC-20. BRC-20 was created in March 2023 by Domo and uses the Ordinals protocol to inscribe JSON data. Runes uses the OP_RETURN opcode and works with the Lightning Network. BRC-20 tokens lack smart contract functionality and depend on indexers for balance tracking. This dependency introduces risk because if indexers disagree, token balances display incorrectly. BRC-20 tokens lack interoperability because they do not use a virtual machine like Ethereum or Solana. ORDI’s price dropped from a 2023 high of $90 to under $5 in early 2026 before the April rally.

Magic Eden multi-chain dominance

Magic Eden holds a 24% market share after gaining 12.1 percentage points in recent trading periods. The marketplace supports Solana, Bitcoin Ordinals, Ethereum, Polygon, and Base. It allows users to view, send, receive, list, or sell NFTs through a single interface. Magic Eden also includes a launchpad and a rewards program for holders. The platform ended support for EVM-based marketplaces on March 9, 2026. Since its launch in September 2021, Magic Eden reached $2 billion in total trade volume for Solana NFTs. The marketplace provides low minting costs and low transaction fees. It allows users to track highly-anticipated mints through the Magic Eden Drop Calendar. Magic Eden competes with OpenSea by offering low-cost minting and fast, low-fee trades. Magic Eden provides the Magic Eden List, which acts as a free whitelist and holder management tool. The platform allows users to import existing wallets and view total portfolio value across chains in USD. The marketplace provides a wide selection of digital collectibles for collectors across the globe.