Bitcoin Miner Rewards Shrink Below Pre-Halving Levels as Network Fees Fall Sharply

After experiencing a period of high fees, onchain transfer costs on the Bitcoin network have decreased significantly. On Friday, the fees peaked at $240 per transaction, but by now they have fallen to just $11.06 each. Since reaching block height 840,179, miners are now earning less bitcoin in rewards compared to before the halving event at block 840,000.

Miners Now Earn Less Bitcoin Than Before Recent Halving

Initially, following the halving, the average onchain fee soared to over $240 per transaction around 9 p.m. EDT on Friday. As of 8 a.m. EDT on Sunday, the cost for a high-priority transaction has settled at 121 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB) or $11 per transfer. Concurrently, bitcoin’s trading price stands at $65,300 per unit at 8 a.m. EDT as well.

In the early stages after block 840,000, bitcoin miners secured nine of the ten highest fees ever recorded on $BTC blocks. They accumulated an impressive 1,087.99 bitcoins in fees alone during the first 93 blocks post-halving. However, by 8 a.m. on Sunday, this high-earning trend appeared to have halted. Post block 840,179, the reward in $BTC for miners has diminished.

Bitcoin’s hashprice as of 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Sunday, April 21, 2024.

Bitcoin’s hashprice, the value of 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of daily hashrate, has dropped sharply from $183 per PH/s on April 20 to $114 per PH/s as of 7 a.m. EDT on Sunday, April 21. Before the halving, block rewards included 6.25 $BTC plus transaction fees, averaging about 6.776 $BTC between block heights 839,848 to 839,900. Now, the average has dropped to approximately 5.105 $BTC per block after the decrease in fees or since block height 840,179.

Bitcoin miners enjoyed a short-lived advantage where, for nearly two days, block rewards yielded much higher returns than before the halving. Miners fortunate enough to operate between blocks 840,000 and 840,179 reaped an average of 12.867 $BTC per block. It appears the Runes protocol‘s impact has lessened by Sunday, with onchain transactions now predominantly involving more financial exchanges, as people take advantage of the lower fees compared to the previous overflow of transfers using the OP_RETURN function.

What do you think about the current fee landscape for miners? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.