BRC-20 popularity declines, why does the MERL price show an upward trend?

2024 could be the year with the highest enthusiasm for the Bitcoin ecosystem. MERL is also one of the early representative tokens born from the Bitcoin BRC-20 ecosystem, with its narrative based on an exploratory extension of Bitcoin programmability through Ordinals and the BRC-20 protocol.

In the early stages of the BRC-20 hype, MERL did not stand out solely due to technical differences but quickly gained attention thanks to its early issuance timing, community dissemination efficiency, and market sentiment dividends. Fundamentally, MERL is more like an “emotion and liquidity carrier” during the BRC-20 narrative phase, rather than a functional token with a clear product or application closed-loop.

However, as the BRC-20 hype faded, MERL’s price also suffered and declined steadily. But according to data from the Gate platform, MERL has quietly risen from below $0.1 at its lowest point to $0.46 over the past few months. What exactly is MERL, and can it rise again?

Current Development Status of MERL

From the current stage, MERL’s project development exhibits typical features of the BRC-20 pathway:

• Early consensus was established quickly, but after the narrative cooled down, new variables became relatively limited.

• In terms of technology and application, MERL has not formed infrastructure or protocol capabilities that significantly surpass other BRC-20 tokens; its main value still resides at the symbol level and within historical narrative layers. This does not mean the project has “failed,” but indicates that its development remains in an ecosystem dividend-driven phase rather than a product-driven phase.

• From a market perspective, MERL now appears more like an asset re-priced by the market, with its price reflecting a calm expectation after the BRC-20 tide receded.

Overall Development Status of the BRC-20 Ecosystem

To determine whether MERL still has opportunities, one must first look at the BRC-20 ecosystem itself.

In reality, the BRC-20 ecosystem has clearly gone through the stages of explosive growth → emotional climax → rapid cooling. Its core issue is that the BRC-20 protocol itself leans more toward an asset issuance and recording standard rather than a complete programmable execution environment.

This leads to several structural limitations:

1. Application layer cannot expand as quickly as the EVM ecosystem;

2. Real usage scenarios are insufficient, and trading behavior is highly dependent on emotion;

3. Lack of clear value stratification among assets, making long-term retention difficult.

However, BRC-20 has not “died.” It is more like a retreat from the main narrative line back to the position of the Bitcoin ecosystem experimental zone. Its value is more reflected in exploration significance and potential upgrade paths rather than short-term large-scale applications.

Why Is MERL’s Valuation Continuously Being Lowered?

From the perspective of trading and market structure, the ongoing pressure on MERL’s price is not entirely a project-level negation but the result of multiple factors stacking up.

First, the overall valuation regresses as the narrative cools down. When BRC-20 is no longer the core market theme, all related assets are re-priced.

Second, the chip structure is emotion-driven. Early participants in MERL tend to have a high proportion of trading funds, and when liquidity declines, the price naturally lacks support.

Third, there is a lack of new expectation anchors. Without major protocol upgrades, ecosystem breakthroughs, or clear application landing, the market finds it difficult to assign high premiums again.

Is There Still a Chance for MERL to Rise?

From a rational perspective, a “resurgence” of MERL is not impossible, but the preconditions are very clear.

The first possibility comes from a second evolution of the Bitcoin ecosystem. If in the future Bitcoin makes substantial breakthroughs in programmability, execution layers, or asset portfolio capabilities, and the BRC-20 or its evolved version returns to the narrative center, MERL as an early representative asset could be re-evaluated.

The second possibility involves a change in the project’s own positioning. If MERL can shift away from purely symbolic attributes toward a tool-oriented, protocol-based, or ecosystem collaboration role, its value logic could be reconstructed.

The third possibility is a purely market-level emotional revival. In the late stages of a bull market, the market often engages in rebound trading on “old narrative assets,” which tend to come quickly and go quickly, favoring trading opportunities rather than long-term logic.

Summary

Overall, MERL is better understood as a historical and potential elasticity asset within the BRC-20 space rather than a project with solid fundamentals and long-term value.

Its risk lies in a heavy dependence on narrative; its opportunity is that once the Bitcoin ecosystem becomes a market focus again, MERL could be “rediscovered.”

For market participants, MERL is more like a question of emotional cycles rather than a question of fundamental certainty. Understanding this is more important than simply judging “whether it will rise or not.”