Bitcoin’s once-every-four-years “halving,” which took place late last week, was supposed to bring a steep cut in revenue for crypto miners, since their rewards for new data blocks would drop by 50%.
Instead, the simultaneous launch of Casey Rodarmor’s new Runes protocol – for minting digital tokens on top of the oldest and largest blockchain – has proven so popular that it’s caused massive network congestion, sending transaction fees to record levels and showering Bitcoin miners with a windfall like never before.
Bitcoin transaction fees averaged a record $127.97 on April 20, when the halving took place and Runes launched, based on coordinated universal time. That’s more than seven times the average fee rate on the day before, and roughly double the previous record set three years ago.
