Brief Overview:

• Following the Bitcoin halving event, miners’ daily revenue experienced a surge, reaching $107 million.

• This is mainly due to transaction fees, which account for approximately 75% of total proceeds.

• The introduction of the Runes protocol significantly increased Bitcoin network activity and transaction congestion.

Following the Bitcoin halving, Bitcoin mining operations have reached unprecedented levels of daily revenue, allaying concerns about their viability.

According to available data, miners earned a total of approximately $107 million from block rewards and transaction fees. This figure significantly exceeds the previous record of $77 million set in April 2021.

Why Bitcoin Miners' Revenues Are Soaring

The lion’s share of these revenues, about 75% or $80 million, came from transaction fees. The remaining $27 million came from block subsidies. Notably, Bitcoin miners are paid for validating transactions and solving blocks.

When looking at the top ten most expensive Bitcoin blocks by USD value, a clear trend can be seen, with the majority of blocks mined after Bitcoin’s halving. The first halving block alone earned $2.6 million in fees and block rewards, making it the most valuable block. The next most valuable blocks ranged from $1.3 million to $2 million.

"The first 77 blocks of the fifth era brought $75 million in revenue to miners," said Baylor Landing, a director at Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific. "By comparison, the last 77 blocks of the fourth era only generated $35 million in revenue. This halving? More like doubling the revenue."

The surge in revenue can be attributed to the increase in minting activity on the newly launched Runes protocol. The protocol introduces Memecoins to the Bitcoin blockchain and uses an unspent transaction output (UTXO) model, deviating from the BRC-20 token standard. It facilitates the creation of altcoins through a process of “etching” directly on the network.

Data shows that the introduction of the Runes protocol triggered a surge in Bitcoin network activity, leading to network congestion and increased transaction fees. Analysis by Dune Analytics shows that after the halving, Runes transactions accounted for 57% of all transactions, totaling more than 12,200 BTC.

Despite the surge in trading fees, experts noted that average fees have decreased compared to 2017 and 2018. This was highlighted by Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, who stressed that even with the increase in Rune activity, average trading fees remain lower than in previous years.

This could mean that despite rising fees in the short term due to network congestion, the transaction fee efficiency of the Bitcoin network has improved in the long term, or that the market's tolerance for high transaction fees has increased. #Runes #比特币矿工收入