Bitcoin Miners Profit $107 Million From Runes Minting Activity
Bitcoin mining revenue hit a new record thanks to the launch of Runes.
- Bitcoin miners reaped $107 million in revenue on the day of the fourth Bitcoin Halving.
- Runes minting accounted for 75% of this revenue from transaction fees.
- This could signal a new dynamic for the Bitcoin mining sector.
In the lead up to the fourth Bitcoin (BTC) Halving event, a great deal of the ‘price action’ discussion centered around how this cycle would affect Bitcoin miners.
Though, despite concerns over mining profitability, BTC token supply, and a “pending” sell-off from miners, it appears as though the fourth Bitcoin Halving event has been very profitable for them. That is, however, thanks to Runes minting.
A Record Day for Bitcoin Mining Revenues
According to on-chain data, Bitcoin miners raked in a record $107.7 million on the day of the fourth Bitcoin Halving, April 20, 2024.
But according to data from Glassnode , the launch of Runes on the same day and the subsequent flurry of minting activity of minting that followed, over 75% of this revenue came from network transaction fees.
What are Bitcoin Runes?
Runes are the latest Bitcoin innovation from Ordinals creator, Casey Rodarmor. He set out to improve on his creation with a more efficient means of creating tokens on the Bitcoin network.
As we previously reported, Bitcoin Ordinals are essentially Bitcoin-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Though a briefly popular innovation, it drew ire from observers who were quick to note the congestion and increased fees caused by issues in the protocol’s design.
In short, Runes is a protocol that allows users to create new tokens and mint them directly onto Bitcoin.
The creator can buy, sell, trade and use them however they see fit. This could see something akin to the initial coin offering (ICO) boom occur on Bitcoin as the Runes ecosystem develops.
Boosting the Bitcoin Network?
Every halving, Bitcoin miners have to make some difficult decisions. If they wish to remain competitive in the wake of a significant earnings slash, they need to sell their accumulated BTC tokens and resupply on more, or newer hardware.
If they decide to simply cash in and shut down their operations, it can also result in small reductions in the network’s hashing power, which isn’t ideal for the network. However, Runes and other Bitcoin-centric innovations could give miners an additional and consistent stream of revenue.
The initial hype from the Runes launch has now seemingly died down with mining revenue dropping from its peak. However, Runes could signal a renewed interest in the Bitcoin network. Ultimately, this could be a positive sign of things to come for the sustainability of the Bitcoin network.
While it unknown how successful Runes, Ordinals, or other Bitcoin-centric innovations will be, miners may have found a fresh source of motivation to secure the network with whatever hardware they have.
