Bitcoin Users Spend Over $2.4M in Fees Amid Fourth Halving Block Frenzy
Summary:
Bitcoin users spent over $2.4 million in fees to secure space on the fourth-ever Bitcoin halving block, which cut miner rewards by half. The rush to imprint and etch rare satoshis on the halving block led to a frenzy of activity, particularly around the new Runes Protocol. Bitcoin mining pools also competed to claim the first satoshi mined on the halving block. The event generated mixed reactions, including criticism from Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff.
A staggering sum of 37.7 Bitcoin (BTC) equivalent to a little over $2.4 million was expended in fees by Bitcoin users to secure a portion of the limited space in the 840,000th Bitcoin block, the fourth halving block ever. The block was generated by ViaBTC, a Bitcoin miner, on April 20 at 12:09 am UTC, prompting the automatic system that slashes miner rewards from 6.25 BTC by half to 3.125 BTC for every block. Data from Bitcoin block explorer mempool.space reveals that the block witnessed a spending spree on fees totaling 37.67 BTC, making it the most coveted digital property in the history of Bitcoin. The total payout to Bitcoin miner ViaBTC for creating the halving block amounted to 40.7 BTC, or $2.6 million, with the miner reward included. A hefty $2.4 million was spent by users in fees to engrave symbols and precious satoshis on the first halving block.
The soaring fees have been attributed to the rush to imprint rare satoshis on the halving block, thanks to the excitement around the new Runes Protocol by Bitcoin Ordinals creator Casey Rodmarmor that was launched concurrently with the halving. Though bearing resemblance to BRC-20s by the fact that Runes also leverages the Bitcoin network and adopts Bitcoin as the fee for creating new tokens, the similarity ends there. The protocol explainer from Rodamor outlines that the marking difference between Runes and BRC-20s lies in Runes utilizing an Unspent Transaction Output System (UTXO) for "etching" new tokens on Bitcoin as opposed to the "inscription" account model taken advantage of by Ordinals.
In a post on April 20, Leonidas, the pseudonymous Ordinals developer, claimed that the fees from the five bitcoin blocks succeeding block 840,000 surpassed the Coinbase reward. He wrote that "Runes degens single handedly offset the drop in miner rewards from the halving." According to data from mempool.space, the five blocks following the halving saw a total expenditure of $3.82 million in fees, excluding miner rewards.
In addition to rushing to engrave the first Runes, Bitcoin mining pools were also scrambling to bag the "epic" satoshi, the very first satoshi mined on the halving block. Trevor Owens, the managing partner at Bitcoin Frontier Fund, announced that he was ready to offer a bounty of between $500,000 and $1 million to "buy out" the first Bitcoin block.
In response to the Bitcoin halving, a brief moment of celebration was quickly followed by everyone back to work as usual. Among those reacting were outspoken Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff who slyly commented "I think halving is an appropriate name for what's happening as soon Bitcoin HODLers will experience a halving of their net worths.
Published At
4/20/2024 5:12:15 AM
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