The ViaBTC Block has experienced a highly profitable transformation with the introduction of the Runes token standard on Bitcoin, replacing the less efficient Bitcoin Ordinals. Following the Bitcoin halving event on Friday, users were motivated to mint new meme coins using the new Bitcoin Runes protocol, resulting in a staggering $2.5 million in transaction fees. This record-breaking payout was made possible by users paying 37.7 BTC to have their transactions included in the halving block.
The halving event reduced the block rewards for new Bitcoin from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. However, block 840,000, which initiated the halving process, became the most profitable block in Bitcoin’s history, contributing a total of 40.751 BTC to ViaBTC, the fortunate mining pool.
The launch of the Runes protocol coincided with the Bitcoin halving event and was created by Casey Rodamor, the inventor of the Ordinals. Runes such as Satoshi.Nakamoto, RSIC, and Wanko Manko were issued on halving block 840,000. A user expressed their confidence in the potential of RUNES, particularly RSIC, stating that they believe it will outperform other assets in the bull market.
Transaction fees accounted for over 90% of ViaBTC’s mining reward for block 840,000, thanks to the surge in activity driven by the issuance of Runes. Throughout the day, transaction fees made up 75% of all miners’ incentives. However, the fee increase quickly subsided after the Bitcoin halving. Gas fees, which initially stood at about 0.0036 BTC or approximately $240, dropped to around $34 or even lower.
Despite the decrease in fees, the release of the Runes protocol has been beneficial for miners, according to Alvin Kan, COO at Bitget Wallet. Transaction fees and the price of BTC are crucial for miners to compensate for the reduction in new Bitcoin issuance following the halving.
Runes differ from the BRC-20 token standard, which is sophisticated and not UTXO-based. The BRC-20 token standard generates numerous unnecessary UTXOs, leading to congestion in the Bitcoin network. Runes aim to replace the less efficient Ordinals-based BRC-20 token standard and require less block space, making them more cost-effective to issue and manage.
The halving event and the emergence of Runes have introduced volatility to Bitcoin’s price. However, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,133, showing a slight increase of 0.11% in the past day, with trading volumes reaching $24.7 billion.