- Bitcoin costs rose over 200% this week to reach $15.5 million, with Runes contributing to the increase
- Miner fees rose to more than $4 million, marking the highest daily revenue since August
Over the past 48 hours, Bitcoin has climbed past the $68,000 price range. However, this wasn’t the only notable development surrounding the cryptocurrency this week.
Analysis showed that rates on the network increased by more than 200%. And this increase was not solely caused by BTC transactions. Instead, a significant portion of the rate increase can be attributed to memecoin transactions, particularly involving Runes.
Bitcoin sees a rate increase
According to data from InTheBlokBitcoin costs saw a major spike this week, rising an impressive 206%, bringing the total cost to $15.5 million. This increase in fees coincided with Bitcoin’s price rising to $68,000 after remaining below this level for more than two months.
While a rise in BTC transactions contributed to the spike in fees, activity around Bitcoin’s Runes played a crucial role in driving the higher transaction fees.
Rune transactions increase Bitcoin costs
An Analysis of Runes Transactions on Dune Analytics showed that activity has increased significantly in recent days. As of October 18, Runes was responsible for more than 45,000 transactions on the network.
These transactions made Runes the second most traded asset on the network, after Bitcoin itself. On some days in the past week, Runes transactions made up more than 10% of all transactions, while BTC transactions continued to dominate the network.
During the most recent trading session, Runes contributed to more than 9% of all trades on the network.
Source: DuneAnalytics
In addition to transaction volume, Runes also had a major influence on the fees generated. At the end of the most recent trading session, Runes trades accounted for more than 3% of total Bitcoin costs.
However, during the week, Runes transaction fees reached 7%, surpassing the previous week’s 12%.
Miner compensation sees a spike after months
The rise in Bitcoin costs has also benefited miners. In fact, data from CryptoQuant revealed that miner compensation reached its highest daily level since August, peaking at over $4 million on October 17.
Although miner compensation has since fallen to about $1.7 million, it remains among the highest in the past two months.
– Read Bitcoin (BTC) price prediction 2024-25
An analysis of miner revenues by Glassnode also indicated that Bitcoin and Runes transactions contributed to the increase in fees. Miners’ fee income rose by more than 11%, marking the first time since August that miners’ fees have seen such a significant spike.
Currently, miner fees make up about 5% of total revenue.
Source: Glassnode