According to the Clark Moody Bitcoin platform, Bitcoin miners earn approximately 0.97 BTC in fees per block. This is an average value calculated based on information on the profitability of mining BTC for the last 2 thousand blocks .
In other words, in some periods of time, miners managed to earn even more than 1 BTC in the form of block fees, while the fixed block reward is 6.25 bitcoins. Moreover, the profitability indicator has only been growing in recent weeks. Let’s talk about the situation in more detail.
Recall that a block in cryptocurrencies is a file that contains a specific set of data. In this case, we are talking about the transactions that were carried out the day before, the amounts of transfers, the time and addresses of the interacting parties. Until the transactions in the block hit the blockchain, they are considered invalid. The more the user pays the commission for the transfer, the faster it will happen.
Note that it is the limited size that is «to blame» for the fact that the cryptocurrency network can handle a relatively small number of transfers per second. However, certain efforts were made to increase it. Read more about the situation in a separate article .
Bitcoin mining profitability
Recall that for each block mined, the miner receives a standard reward equal to 6.25 BTC in this cycle. The next cycle will begin with a new halving – that is, the procedure for reducing the reward in half – during which the amount of reward in bitcoins will fall. In addition to the main reward, miners also receive income from commissions.
Recently, their value has increased dramatically. According to the BitInfoCharts platform, the average transaction fee on the BTC network is currently just under $ 20. In general, the day before, miners earned about $ 40 million per day, with commissions accounting for 13.47 percent of this amount .
Changes in fees in the Bitcoin network in the last 3 months
We checked the current data: the rate of earnings of Bitcoin miners during the day is at an all-time high. Yesterday it was the equivalent of $ 50.35 million, and the day before yesterday the figure set a record of $ 50.59 million – that is, this is how much miners around the world earn on cryptocurrency during the day. It is noteworthy that the previous high of 50.05 million was held since December 19, 2017.
Bitcoin miners profit graph
This trend suggests that as bitcoin mining rewards decrease against the background of halving, fees may continue to grow and replace the main amount of income. Thus, they provide a constant economic incentive for miners who keep the main cryptocurrency network operational and secure. This is the scenario that miners should count on when the last coin is mined on the Bitcoin network.
However, there is one problem with all this: from the point of view of the average user, bursts of growth in commissions make the Bitcoin network unusable for frequent use. Such a trend may even scare off potential BTC buyers, whose capital is relatively small.
However, according to Pedro Febrero, an analyst at Quantum Economics, fees are skyrocketing with each new wave of digital asset adoption. The expert hopes that this problem will soon be solved using the Lightning Network .
In terms of market dynamics, miners’ tactics remain centered around long-term storage of bitcoins. According to the analytical platform Glassnode, the main pressure from sellers on the BTC rate is now exerted by investors who take profits from the growth of the cryptocurrency price. But the volume of coins sold by miners in February continues to fall, reports Cointelegraph .
The volume of coins sold by miners against the background of the Bitcoin price. The red arrow indicates the volumes withdrawn by the miners for January, the green indicates the volume of sales since the beginning of February
That is, miners have been selling fewer mined coins lately. This means that they are most likely counting on an increase in the Bitcoin rate in the near future.
A recent Glassnode report claims that miners and long-term investors are the two main sellers of bitcoin during bullish trends. The decline in cryptocurrency outflow from miners can be seen as a positive indicator for cryptocurrency growth, as miners have either already covered their operating costs or are accumulating coins amid news of Tesla’s massive investment in BTC.
The report also mentions the so-called «Elon Candle» last week – the largest daily chart candlestick in BTC history , which was formed following Tesla’s investment announcement. In just a matter of hours, the price of Bitcoin soared up 18.5 percent. Looking at Bitcoin’s Average Spent Output Lifespan (ASOL) – a measure that measures the average age in days of all spent output transactions – Glassnode concluded that long-term investors were using Tesla news to lock in profits.
«Elon’s candle» on the Bitcoin chart
However, as today shows, Bitcoin found the strength to jump even higher even a few days after the news was released.
Another indicator, Coin Days Destroyed (CDD), is a measure of economic activity giving more weight to coins that have not been spent for a long time. It also shows that old coins are being redistributed between crypto wallets. In other words, long-term investors have been fixing profits since October last year, when BTC exceeded the $ 12,000 mark.
Overall, this is an expected trend: periodically selling coins as the price of BTC rises is a smart strategy on the part of investors. At the same time, the market has not yet reached the peak of the current bullish cycle, which means that in the medium term, the growth in the value of the main cryptocurrency has every chance of continuing.
We believe that the situation is positive. Users continue to use the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies network despite high fees. This means that the value of coins and working with them are of much greater value and profitability.
