Over the past four days, fees paid by bitcoin users have surpassed those of ethereum, according to data from Cryptofees, a data analytics platform.
This increase in bitcoin transaction fees has been associated with the growing anticipation around the upcoming halving event and the Runes update.
bitcoin Fees Outperform ethereum for 4 Consecutive Days
On April 18, bitcoin fees amounted to $6.81 million compared to $5.04 million for ethereum. On the other hand, bitcoin miners collected $7.47 million in fees, surpassing ethereum stakers with $7.31 million on April 17.
Similarly, bitcoin miners received $9.98 million and $5.91 million on April 15 and 16, respectively. The amount surpassed that of ethereum by $3.5 million and $1.1 million on the respective days.
However, ethereum maintains a slight lead based on the 7-day average fee, with $8.02 million compared to bitcoin's $7.45 million.
The bitcoin fee increase coincides with the highly anticipated halving event on April 20, which will see mining rewards go from 6.25 btc to 3.125 btc. Approximately 900 btc are currently mined daily, which is equivalent to about $57.2 million at current prices.
After the halving, where approximately 450 btc will be mined daily, miners will be more reliant on higher fees and sustained increases in the price of bitcoin to offset the decline in revenue resulting from the halving, at least in the short term.
Runes Are a Catalyst for Rising bitcoin Fees
The introduction of nft-like ordinal inscriptions in January 2023 also contributed to increased transaction fee revenue for bitcoin miners. Additionally, a new source of income is anticipated with the launch of Runes, a new bitcoin token standard scheduled to launch during the halving in block 840,000.
Runes is positioned to compete with Ordinals by simplifying the creation of fungible tokens in bitcoin, targeting meme coin enthusiasts and other community-driven audiences. Casey Rodarmor, the creator of Ordinals and Runes, x.com/rodarmor/status/1774613900119699701″ data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank”>argues that the project is completely based on UTXO and therefore is not expected to congest the bitcoin network to the same extent as Ordinals.
The recent rise in bitcoin fees could also be partly attributed to a recent drop in BRC-20 token prices, as traders turn their attention towards Runes. Ordinals (ORDI) and Sats (SATS), the two largest BRC-20 tokens by market capitalization, have seen a drop of 38% and 43% over the past week, according to data from CoinGecko.
Meanwhile, among bitcoin nft collections, Runestones has become the most traded, with a volume of $9.6 million in the last 24 hours. In comparison, top ethereum collections such as Pudgy Penguins and Bored Ape Yacht Club recorded volumes of $3.7 million and $3.4 million, respectively.
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