tl;dr
Bitcoin transaction fees have surged by over 32% this week, reaching their highest levels since August. This increase indicates heightened network activity, despite decreasing volatility in Bitcoin's price. The surge is attributed to a resurgence in Runes transactions, which have dominated over 50% ...
Bitcoin transaction fees surge by 32% as Runes dominate over 50% of Bitcoin blockspace
Bitcoin miners earn $5 million in transaction fees, attributed to heightened network activity
Runes transactions drive up median fee rate by 65%, accounting for over 15% of Bitcoin network transactions
Rising demand for Runes tokens coincides with significant price increases and upcoming swap feature on Magic Eden
Bitcoin transaction fees have surged by over 32% this week, reaching their highest levels since August. This increase indicates heightened network activity, despite decreasing volatility in Bitcoin's price. The surge is attributed to a resurgence in Runes transactions, which have dominated over 50% of Bitcoin's blockspace, leading to a 65% increase in the average BTC median fee rate. Runes is a Bitcoin token standard allowing the creation of fungible tokens on the network and is experiencing rising demand, coinciding with significant price increases for tokens like DOG, RSIC, and BILLION.
Bitcoin transaction fees have spiked by over 32% this week, marking their highest levels since August. This sharp rise suggests an uptick in miners’ earnings, likely driven by renewed interest in Runes trading on the Bitcoin network. TRANSACTION FEES SURGE AS RUNES TAKE OVER 50% OF BITCOIN BLOCKSPACE
Bitcoin miners earned a total of $5 million in transaction fees over the past week, according to data from IntoTheBlock. The fee surge points to heightened network activity, even though Bitcoin’s price has shown declining volatility . During the reporting period, the top asset mostly traded in a range between the $60,000 mark and $63,000, according to BeInCrypto data. “Bitcoin fees surged by 32% this week, indicating increased network activity even as volatility trends downward,” IntoTheblock shared. Read more: Bitcoin NFTs: Everything You Need To Know About Ordinals Bitcoin Transaction Fees Bitcoin Transaction Fees. Source: IntoTheBlock Market analysts attribute the fee hike to a resurgence in Runes transactions. Alkimiya, a decentralized capital markets protocol, reported that Runes transactions dominated over 50% of Bitcoin’s blockspace during the past week, pushing the average BTC median fee rate up by as much as 65%. “In this pool (Oct 8 – Oct 15), we’ve experienced 4 separate spikes in feerates. The highest median feerate clocked in at 50 sat/vB. These 4 spikes were driven by 4 different Runes mints. Since they are distinct events, the cascading effect on the baseline feerate is minimal, which means their impacts decay very quickly after the minting concluded,” Alkimiya stated. Runes is a Bitcoin token standard developed by Casey Rodarmor, creator of Ordinals. It allows users to create fungible tokens on the network and builds on the BRC-20 standard, which has been criticized for its high token creation costs. Moreover, Runes provides a more efficient solution for creating and managing tokens on the Bitcoin network.
Data from Dune Analytics shows that Runes transactions accounted for an average of over 15% of all Bitcoin network transactions in the past week. On October 7, Runes-related transactions made up 19.4% of total BTC transactions, though this figure dropped to 10.7% on October 9 before rebounding to 13.6% by October 12. Read more: Crypto Inscriptions: What Are They And How Do They Work? Bitcoin Runes Transaction Bitcoin Runes Transaction. Source: Dune Analytics
Meanwhile, the surge in Runes-related activity coincides with a rising demand for Runes tokens. According to Magic Eden, tokens such as DOG, RSIC, and BILLION have seen significant price increases in the last 24 hours. This renewed interest comes just as Magic Eden announced plans to launch a new swap feature for Runes assets. Top crypto projects in the US | October 2024 Coinbase Coinbase Explore Coinrule Coinrule Explore 3Commas 3Commas Explore Uphold Uphold Explore Chain GPT Chain GPT Explore Top crypto projects in the US | October 2024 Coinbase Coinbase Explore Coinrule Coinrule Explore 3Commas 3Commas Explore Uphold Uphold Explore Chain GPT Chain GPT Explore Top crypto projects in the US | October 2024 Coinbase Coinbase * Coinrule Coinrule * 3Commas 3Commas * Uphold Uphold * Chain GPT Chain GPT *