Runes Protocol Ignites Frenzy in Bitcoin Transaction Fees, Miners Reap Benefits
In sync with the Bitcoin halving event, the homogenous token protocol Runes has sparked a surge in transaction fees, making miners the biggest winners. Bitcoin miners raked in a record-breaking $107 million in revenue yesterday.
Following the completion of the fourth Bitcoin halving event on Saturday, April 20, the block rewards were reduced from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Initially, concerns were raised about the halving cutting miners’ profits in half and potentially leading them to sell off BTC to cover operational costs. However, data shared by Julio Moreno, the research director at CryptoQuant, shows that Bitcoin miners earned $107 million yesterday, surpassing the previous single-day record of $77 million set in April 2021.
We know that Bitcoin miner revenue is composed of block rewards and transaction fees. Out of the record-breaking $107 million in revenue, the largest portion comes from transaction fees, accounting for 75% ($80.5 million), while the remaining $26.2 million is from block rewards, representing only about 24.6% of the total.
Baylor Landry, an executive at SC&P, also stated that the last 77 blocks before the fourth halving event generated only $35 million in miner revenue. However, after the halving, the first 77 blocks produced a total of $75 million in miner revenue, making it more like a doubling of profits. But can this situation continue?
The surge in Bitcoin transaction fees after the halving is mainly attributed to the synchronous launch of the homogenous token protocol Runes. After its launch, users rushed to mint rune tokens, causing a drastic increase in Bitcoin transaction fees. At one point, high priority fees even exceeded 2,200 Sat (approximately $200).
According to Dune Analytics, after the halving, transactions related to the Runes protocol accounted for a staggering 57.7% of the overall Bitcoin transactions.
Currently, Bitcoin transaction fees have significantly decreased. According to mempool data:
– Current no-priority fee: 14 Sat ($1.29)/byte
– Low-priority fee: 76 Sat ($6.98)/byte
– Medium-priority fee: 84 Sat ($7.71)/byte
– High-priority fee: 93 Sat ($8.54)/byte
Unless the popularity of Runes continues, it is reasonable to expect miner revenue to return to normal values, potentially even lower than before the halving if there is no significant increase in coin price.
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