Bitcoin transaction fees have exceeded those of Ethereum for three consecutive days as miners and traders gear up for the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the introduction of Runes on Bitcoin.
On April 17, Bitcoin miners earned $7.47 million in fees, slightly more than the $7.31 million paid to Ethereum stakers. Similarly, on April 15 and 16, Bitcoin miners earned $9.98 million and $5.91 million respectively, surpassing Ethereum stakers by significant margins.
While Bitcoin fees have surged, Ethereum maintains a narrow lead in the 7-day average fee basis, with $8.55 million compared to Bitcoin’s $7.57 million.
The increase in Bitcoin fees is crucial for miners as the upcoming halving event on April 20 will cut the mining subsidy in half. Currently, about 900 Bitcoin are mined per day, generating approximately $57.2 million in revenue.
After the halving, miners will rely more on higher fees and a rise in Bitcoin’s price to compensate for the reduced revenue. Transaction fees accounted for 11.5% of the Bitcoin mining industry’s total block rewards on April 17.
The upcoming release of Runes, a new Bitcoin token standard, is expected to further boost transaction fees. Runes aim to facilitate the creation of fungible tokens on Bitcoin, attracting memecoin enthusiasts and other community-driven audiences.
Runes, created by Casey Rodarmor, will compete with Ordinals by offering a UTXO-based approach to token creation, potentially reducing spam on the Bitcoin network.
The recent increase in Bitcoin fees may be influenced by a decline in BRC-20 token prices, with traders shifting attention to Runes. Notably, Ordinals (ORDI) and Sats (SATS) have seen significant drops in market capitalization over the past week.
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