The Rise of Bitcoin Runes: Record Fees and Miner Profits Unveiled

On April 20th, Bitcoin hit an incredible milestone, generating $78.3 million in fees. In comparison, Ethereum trailed far behind at $3.2 million. This surge followed the launch of Bitcoin Runes by the creators of Ordinals after the halving event. This protocol enables the creation of fungible tokens on the primary blockchain.

Lucas Outumuro, a researcher at IntoTheBlock, called the Runes launch “absolutely insane.” He noted that the $80 million in daily fees marked a four-fold increase from the previous all-time high in December 2017. During the launch, average transaction fees peaked at $128, up from $30 during the ordinals.

Despite the recent halving event reducing block rewards by 50%, miners are enjoying record revenues. Last Saturday alone, they earned over $100 million. Initially, there were concerns of short-term strain on miners post-halving, with major miner stocks dropping over 50% from their highs. Outumuro suggested that traditional finance might have been caught off guard by the Runes launch.

“It’s been less than 48 hours since Runes launched, and it’s already making historic impacts,” summarized the analyst. However, it’s uncertain if the hype surrounding Runes will continue. Currently, retail participation seems low, indicated by a decline in retail addresses. Yet, Runes could potentially address Bitcoin’s long-standing security challenges, despite facing resistance from its conservative community.