Bitcoin Transaction Fees Shoots Amid Launch of Runes Protocol

Soon after the Bitcoin halving event triggered at the block height of 840,000, the Bitcoin transactions fee also shot up significantly. Thanks to the launch of the Runes protocol that has led to this frenzy on the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result, the average transaction fee per block surged to as high as 18.62 BTC.

Runes Launch Escalates Bitcoin Transaction Fee

The Bitcoin network is currently experiencing significant congestion, with the minimum transaction fee soaring above 1,050 sat/vb (approximately $94). This surge in fees comes alongside over 237,000 pending transactions, coupled with memory usage exceeding 300 MB and peaking at 1.15 GB. The congestion is attributed to the recent online launch of Runes and the subsequent minting of new Runes.

According to OKLink, in the 15 blocks following the Bitcoin block height 840,000 post-halving to 840,014, the average revenue per block surged to 21.74 BTC. Remarkably, the average transaction fee reward per block escalated to a staggering 18.62 BTC, highlighting the substantial impact of Rune minting on Bitcoin’s transaction economics.

#Bitcoin fees are so crazy because of a new token protocol that went live on block 840,000 that uses Op_Return called Runes.

It is pure degenerate speculation- there is nothing being promised nor any utility other speculation.

Miners will churn through it eventually. pic.twitter.com/Fw3plYN5Ee

— Dylan LeClair 🟠 (@DylanLeClair_) April 20, 2024

However, the launch of the Runes protocol has been ultimately beneficial to the Bitcoin miners who have been minting huge sums in transaction fees. Reportedly, Bitcoin miners are making a staggering $1 million on every Bitcoin block, says the report.

Almost $1M in txn fees to miners on every Bitcoin block since the halving.

Wild. https://t.co/acKVRyB3r2

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) April 20, 2024

About the Runes Protocol

In a landmark development for the world’s largest blockchain, the Runes Ordinals protocol emerged in December 2022, heralding a groundbreaking cultural shift. Revered as “The second phase of Bitcoin,” Ordinals introduced pioneering capabilities, empowering users to embed diverse content like images, audio, and code files onto the Bitcoin blockchain.

Following the resounding success of the Ordinals launch, developer Casey Rodarmor unveiled the innovative Runes token protocol. Designed to streamline the creation of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network, Runes represents a significant advancement in Bitcoin’s ecosystem, further expanding its utility and functionality.

The launch of runes has come as a boon for the Bitcoin miners who are likely to face a major revenue hit following Bitcoin halving 4.0.