Record-Breaking Block: Bitcoin Halving Spurs $2.4 Million in Transaction Fees, Thanks to Runes

• The emergence of Runes token standard on Bitcoin has created a uniquely profitably ViaBTC Block.
• Runes are game-changers that seek to replace the less efficient Bitcoin Ordinals.

The Bitcoin (BTC) halving event which took place on Friday brought about $2.5 million in transaction fees for users spurred by the rush to mint new meme coins utilizing the new Bitcoin Runes protocol. The record-breaking payouts were the consequence of users paying 37.7 BTC to get their transactions included in the halving block.

Bitcoin’s halving reduced the quantity of new Bitcoin awarded as block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. However, block 840,000, which started the halving process, was the most profitable Block in Bitcoin’s history. It contributed a total of 40.751 BTC to ViaBTC, the fortunate mining pool.

The Launch of Bitcoin Runes Protocol After Halving

The Runes protocol which allows individuals to mint fungible Bitcoin tokens was created by the Ordinals inventor Casey Rodamor. The launch of Runes on Friday coincided with the Bitcoin halving event. Runes such as Satoshi.Nakamoto, RSIC, and Wanko Manko were issued on the halving block 840,000.

“My play on RUNES is simple. They will outperform almost anything else in this bull market. I believe RSIC is the highest quality of RUNE for many reasons. So yes I stack RUNES.

But when I do. I stack exclusively RSIC,” an X user commented. 

My play on RUNES is simple

They will outperform almost anything else this bull market

I believe RSIC is the highest quality of RUNE for many reasons

So yes I stack RUNES

But when I do

I stack exclusively RSIC pic.twitter.com/6VfGtRLRbx

— $h1llb34t W4llst3in (@Sh1llb34tW4llSt) April 22, 2024

Transaction fees accounted for more than 90% of ViaBTC’s mining reward for block 840,000, thanks to a spike in activity fueled by the issuance of Runes. Throughout the day, transaction costs comprised 75% of all miners’ incentives. However, the fee increase quickly subsided after the Bitcoin halving.

Gas fees which were about 0.0036 BTC, or roughly $240 immediately after the halving event fell to around $34 or even less. Despite this decline, Alvin Kan, COO at Bitget Wallet stated that the release of the Runes protocol has been “a boon for miners.”

The importance of transaction fees to miners cannot be over-emphasized at this point. Miners now rely on transaction fees and rises in the price of BTC to make up for the reduction in new Bitcoin issuance following the halving.

While Runes transactions are not the only drivers that affect Bitcoin transaction fees, the increasing number of non-standard transactions, that is, transactions involving more than merely moving regular Bitcoin between addresses generally supports the income earned by miners.

How are Runes Different from BRC-20 Tokens?

Runes differ from the BRC-20 token standard, which is sophisticated and not UTXO-based. The latter feature leads the BRC-20 token standard to generate an excessive number of trash UTXOs, which congests the Bitcoin network. 

As previously reported by Crypto News Flash, the purpose of Runes is to replace the less efficient Ordinals-based BRC-20 token standard. Runes use far less block space than the more established BRC-20 standard, making it less expensive to issue and deal with.

The halving event and Runes emergence has sent volatility into the Bitcoin with impact on price. However, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,133, demonstrating a slight increase of 0.11% in the past day, with trading volumes pegged at $24.7 billion.