The enthusiasm seems to be waning now that one day after the Bitcoin 4th halving block, fees jumped significantly, especially compared to now when transaction costs are more affordable. On the very next day, after reaching the record high average of $128 on April 20, bitcoin fees are now down to the range of $8–10 for medium-priority transactions, based on the data mempool.space for.
A day of records and milestones
Bitcoin halving took place, and mining to rank first during this day resulted in a Bitcoin fee reaching a new peak, a total of $78.3 million being paid, which is more than 24 times higher than ETH fee, according to Crypto Fees. Far more than Ethereum, resulting in the creation of an unexpected gravity zone. Particularly, with transaction fees of 37,7 Bitcoin (-$2.4 million) to pay miner ViaBTC, block no. 640,000 at height was the biggest record block in the history of Bitcoin.
Meme Coins and NFT Craze Fuel Demand
The majority of the demand for a bit space on the halving day was fueled by meme coin and NFT (non-fungible token) devotees who made sure to participate and earn a spot in blockchain history. Runes protocol launched at block 840,000 with aggregated 3050 transactions, of which nearly all cost each user $800. This was strongly highlighted by everyone, so 3050 transactions were included in the block.
Decline in Fees Post-Halving
This peak in push transaction fees, however, also had a limit and was around block 840,200, above which mempool.space data shows average block fees decrease to 1-2 Bitcoin. The initial windfall from high transaction fees lasted, affording miners resilience to block reward halving; however, now that there is a decrease in fees, the miners experience the effects of a value crunch.
Bitcoin Outperforms Ethereum in Fee Rankings
Transaction fees controlled two of the coins or cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin came first for six straight days between April 15 and 20, while Ethereum followed in second place. Bitcoin’s 7-day fee average stood at $17.8 million. To some extent, Bitcoin’s price recouped to $64,840 by the last 1.5% rise, which was recorded by CoinGecko right after the halving event without a significant impact directly.