According to recent analysis from Glassnode, fees paid to Bitcoin miners have reached a new level, totaling 1.258 BTC. This increase in transaction fees comes at a time when there is a significant drop in the creation of new Bitcoin addresses, which registered a reduction to 260.838. At the time of publication, the price of BTC was quoted at US$66.066,85, up 2.4% in the last 24 hours.
The expectation was that the recent Bitcoin halving event, which halved block rewards, would decrease miner income. However, the emergence of Casey Rodarmor's Runas protocol contradicted these predictions. This protocol, which allows the minting of digital tokens directly on the blockchain of Bitcoin, quickly gained popularity, resulting in unprecedented network congestion and ever-increasing transaction fees.
Although total transaction fees reached the mentioned value, a slight reduction was observed compared to the recent peak. According to data from Mempool, the average transaction fee is currently 34,86, a decrease from the peak of 128,45 recorded on April 20. This decline of 72,86% still represents an increase of 2.65 thousand% compared to the previous year.
Historically, during periods of high demand like the 2017 cryptocurrency boom, average Bitcoin transaction fees tend to escalate, reaching nearly $60. The recent reduction in the creation of new Bitcoin addresses can be attributed to the disincentive caused by high transaction fees for potential new users looking to join the network.
After the halving, the market initially did not react significantly, but Bitcoin subsequently gained momentum. Currently, Bitcoin is traded at US$66.178, marking an increase of 1,76% in the last intraday session, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Despite warnings from institutions such as JPMorgan about a possible decline in Bitcoin's value following the halving, the prevailing long-term view for the cryptocurrency remains bullish. Bitwise, a leader in asset management, highlighted that, based on previous cycles, Bitcoin typically experiences a brief post-halving dip, followed by sizable gains in the subsequent year.
