In this recent Leonidas interview hosted by Vincent of CryptoLution, the crypto community was treated to an insightful and revealing conversation with Leonidas, the developer behind two of Bitcoin’s most culturally significant projects: Runestone Ordinals and the $DOG Bitcoin meme coin.
The interview unpacked the explosive rise of the Runes Protocol, a new fungible token standard built directly on Bitcoin’s blockchain. Leonidas shared his optimism about the protocol’s performance in 2024, especially after it surpassed BRC-20 in market cap and community adoption. Despite limited centralized exchange (CEX) support, Runes has proven its strength through organic growth and community-led momentum.
Central to this growth has been $DOG, the first major meme coin launched on Bitcoin via Runes. Without a single Tier 1 CEX listing, $DOG still managed to reach an eye-popping $999M market cap in 2024. Leonidas emphasized how this was a clear sign of the coin’s cult-like following and the strength of grassroots support. While many tokens rely on insider deals, paid influencers, and opaque listings, $DOG was distributed 100% fairly and freely to holders of the Runestone Ordinals, airdropped to over 112,000 early adopters.
Leonidas highlighted what makes $DOG different: it’s not just a meme coin — it’s a movement. There’s no centralized team, no VCs, and no locked tokens. Instead, it thrives on open-source culture and community ownership. Holders aren’t just investors — they’re builders, designers, meme creators, educators, and evangelists spreading $DOG across the digital world. Everything from merchandise and art to analytics dashboards and educational content has sprung up organically. It’s what Leonidas calls a “true decentralized movement.”
The conversation also tackled the challenges of gaining Tier 1 exchange listings. Leonidas was candid about the current pay-to-play nature of centralized exchanges like Binance, which often prioritize listing fees and insider incentives over community-driven projects. Despite that, progress is being made, especially with exchanges like OKX and Kraken, which have begun integrating Runes support.
Looking forward, Leonidas stressed that the future of $DOG and Runestone is tied to the strength of its community. He issued a rallying cry for the “Dog Army” to stay active on X (formerly Twitter), create content, educate others, and help spread the word. According to him, success will come not just from code or protocol improvements but from collective action and shared belief.
The interview concluded with a powerful message: we are still early. With only eight months of Runes in existence, and Bitcoin just beginning to unlock new layers of innovation beyond being a store of value, Leonidas believes $DOG is at the forefront of a generational opportunity.
