Revenue earned from Bitcoin (BTC) mining exceeded the $100 million mark for the first time, recording an all-time high daily earnings on Bitcoin halving day, 2024.
On April 20, Bitcoin miners earned a total of $107.7 million in mining rewards and transaction fees as community members willingly paid exorbitant fees to get their transactions recorded on the 840,000th Bitcoin block.
Total value in US dollar of block rewards and transaction fees paid to miners. Source: blockchain.com
Investors wanting to be a part of Bitcoin’s history spent 37.7 BTC (worth $2.4 million) in fees alone to nab their share of limited space on the Bitcoin block, which triggered the 4th halving event. The block included 3,050 transactions, meaning the average user paid a little under $800.
Users spent $2.4 million in fees to inscribe runes and rare satoshis on the first halving block. Source: Mempool.space
The record-breaking fees were attributed to the race to inscribe and etch rare satoshis on the halving block. Much of the activity stemmed from a frenzy of activity on Bitcoin Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor’s new Runes Protocol, which went live at the same time as the halving.
The previous all-time high revenue for Bitcoin miners was $78.7 million on March 11, back when Bitcoin price broke a new high of $71,415. However, the jump in revenue was directly correlated with Bitcoin’s market price as miners get rewarded in BTC in exchange for confirming transactions over the blockchain.
The Bitcoin halving event on April 20 slashed mining rewards in half for the fourth time, reducing them to 3.125 BTC for every block mined until the next halving reduces them even further.
Related: Where will Bitcoin’s price be at the next halving in 2028?
With declining hype around Bitcoin halving, the average fees paid on Bitcoin have fallen sharply just a day after reaching a record average of $128 on April 20.
Average daily transaction fee on Bitcoin over the last 5 years. Source: Y Charts
As of April 21, Bitcoin transaction fees have fallen to an average of $8-10 for medium-priority transactions, according to mempool.space.
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