A recent report shows that Bitcoin miners have witnessed a notable achievement, surpassing its previous 2022 record.
The report revealed that the miner made over $100 million from transaction fees alone in the second quarter of 2023.
The amount accumulated is over five times the total fees earned in the previous five consecutive quarters.
This achievement mirrors the ever-growing demand for Bitcoin transactions and the rising value of the digital asset.
Bitcoin Miners Achieve Milestone: Q2 2023 Transaction Fees Surpass $100 Million Mark, Soaring Over 270% from Q1
According to a by Coin Metrics on July 5, Bitcoin miners generated a remarkable $184 million in transaction fees during the second quarter of 2023.
This amount far surpasses the fees earned by miners throughout the entirety of 2022.
This significant achievement marks the first time since Q2 2021 that a quarter has exceeded the $100 million milestone.
The payout of $184 million represents an astounding surge of over 270% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
This figure exceeds the combined fees earned during the preceding five quarters, from Q1 2022 to Q1 2023, by more than fivefold.
The substantial increase in transaction fee revenue highlights the growing demand for Bitcoin and the ongoing network activity.
Nevertheless, the transaction fees constituted a mere 7.7% of the overall $2.4 billion earned by miners in the previous quarter.
The report attributes the significant increase in transaction fees to Bitcoin’s recent price surge and the implementation of the BRC-20 token standard and Ordinals.
Bitcoin Miners Reap Advantages from the Utilization of BRC-20 and Ordinals
In March 2023, the was introduced, utilizing Ordinals inscriptions to facilitate the creation and transfer of fungible tokens on the Bitcoin network.
This new token class takes inspiration from Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard. Since their inception, the market capitalization of BRC-20 tokens has surged to over $240 million.
Furthermore, was launched in January 2023, introducing the Ordinals protocol on the Bitcoin network.
This protocol enables users to create assets similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by inscribing data onto a single satoshi.
A satoshi represents the smallest divisible unit of Bitcoin, equivalent to 1/100,000,000 of one .
The combination of the BRC-20 token and the Ordinals protocol has introduced new possibilities and functionality to the Bitcoin ecosystem, expanding its capabilities beyond its traditional use as a store of value.
These developments have boosted the market capitalization of BRC-20 tokens and provided avenues for creating unique assets on the Bitcoin network, parallel to the concept of NFTs.
As mentioned in the report, bitcoin miners experienced favorable macroeconomic conditions in the last quarter.
The receding inflation pressures resulted in lower electricity rates for miners based in the United States, thereby benefiting them.
However, the report also noted decreased payout amounts related to transaction fees due to the diminishing excitement surrounding BRC-20 tokens.
Nevertheless, miners still receive significant compensation from transaction fees.