Bitcoin (BTC) Sees Highest Fees Since Post-Halving Period

Marius Farashi TasoojiMarius Farashi Tasooji is a Bitcoin educator. First lured by the lure of gain, I am now trapped deep into the rabbit hole

Bitcoin is often criticized for its slowness and low scalability, mainly due to its limited block size. Some see this as a barrier to BTC adoption, while others see it as an essential quality that ensures the decentralization and robustness of the network.

While it can be argued that high fees make miners profitable, the main drawback of small block sizes is that transaction fees can add up very quickly.

For example, after the halving in April 2024, the launch of the Runes protocol, a fungible token protocol on Bitcoin, caused such a stir that transaction fees allowed blocks to be recorded generating hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars in fees for several days.

Further reading – What is Runes and how to use this Bitcoin protocol?

Since then, transaction fees have dropped to their lowest level in a year, reaching 2 sats/vB. However, Yesterday the network experienced a sharp increase in fees which lasted only an hour and a half.

According to Blockchain Insights at the time of the sudden fee increase, in total, more than 67 Bitcoins were collected by miners in less than 2 hours, or more than 4 million dollars.

Antpool notably had the chance to mine 3 of the 4 blocks generating the most fees, thus accumulating 33,147 BTC in fees to which is added 9,375 BTC in network subsidy. This represents more than 2.5 million dollars in less than an hour.

A New Staking Protocol Makes an Explosive Entry on the Scene

Babylon is a staking protocol that aims to integrate Bitcoin into securing Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains. It allows Bitcoin holders to stake their BTC while retaining full control of their assets, without resorting to a trusted third party.

A new protocol that reuses staked assets to secure other services on a blockchain and earn additional yield, called retaking on Ethereum, was introduced by EigenLayer.

Also read in the news – Salvador: 80,000 civil servants trained in Bitcoin – A visionary initiative or a risky bet?

At its launch, Babylon set a deposit cap of 1,000 BTC, or around $60 million. It was this limit that prompted investors to rush in and pay ever-increasing fees to secure their participation in the protocol, pushing fees up to over 1,500 sats/vB.

However, it is important to note that BTC stakers do not receive any rewards at the moment, only points that will likely be used for an eventual token distribution by the protocol, in a style similar to EigenLayer.

20 € offered when you register on Bitvavo

Source: mempool

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First lured by the lure of gain, I am now trapped deep into the rabbit hole. With no way out, I have no choice but to share my knowledge and transmit the passion I have for Bitcoin. I am also the creator of Adopt a Block, an educational site dedicated to Bitcoin.

Marius Farashi Tasooji

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