In summary
- Bitcoin’s price has exceeded $ 48,000 today.
- Transaction fees are also at levels above normal.
- This resulted in more revenue potential for miners.
The price of Bitcoin – currently close to the $ 48,000 mark – is affecting people’s pockets. This includes the wallets of those who extract them.
According to data from blockchain analyst firm Glassnode, Bitcoin miners have earned more than $ 4 million in revenue in an hour’s time today. This is the highest level ever recorded in the Bitcoin blockchain, he says.
Mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the blockchain. Miners operate specialized computers that contribute to the security of the network; the machine that solves the cryptographic puzzle first is rewarded with newly minted Bitcoins. The process starts again every 10 minutes or more.
Miners gain two things when they establish a new block: a block reward, which currently stands at 6.25 BTC, plus fees paid by Bitcoin users to help prioritize their transactions.
This results in about 37.5 Bitcoins in block rewards every hour – perhaps more if seven blocks are processed instead of six. At today’s BTC rate, that equates to $ 2.1 million.
Much of the money miners are earning, however, comes from transaction fees, which reached a three-year high of $ 25.46 yesterday – with more than 2,500 transactions per block – adding another $ 400,000 or more. However, rates vary widely from day to day and from hour to hour – and tend to be higher during business hours in the United States.
With all the attention paid to the network as the price of Bitcoin rises to $ 50,000, there is more competition to make transactions and more incentives for users to pay a higher fee. This can be a drag for the average user, but it is clearly not so bad for miners.