Bitcoin fees overtake Ethereum in last 24 hours thanks to these two catalysts

Bitcoin users paid $7.47 million in gas fees in the last 24 hours.
The halving and the Runes upgrade are expected to go live April 20.
Bitcoin NFT and BRC-20 trading activity is picking up leading into Saturday.

Fees paid by users on Bitcoin surpassed those paid by users on Ethereum in the last 24 hours, according to data from Cryptofees, a data analytics site.

Users paid $7.47 million in transaction fees on Bitcoin, compared with the $7.31 million paid by users on Ethereum. This is the sixth-highest day for fees generated by Bitcoin in 2024.

The increase in fees paid by Bitcoin users is being driven by enthusiasm for the upcoming halving and the Runes upgrade.

Activity on Ethereum stemming from DeFi protocols usually keeps fees on Ethereum higher than those on Bitcoin. The seven-day average for fees on Ethereum is $8.5 million, compared with Bitcoins $7.5 million.

The Bitcoin halving is expected to occur on Saturday. Halvings happen every four years. This one will reduce the reward for minting a new Bitcoin block in half to 3.125 Bitcoin from 6.25 Bitcoin.

The Runes upgrade is also expected to go live on Saturday. It is designed to make trading NFTs and tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain more efficient.

Anticipation surrounding the upgrade seems to be spurring most of the activity on Bitcoin, as Bitcoin NFTs are dominating in volume and users compared with other blockchains.

Magic Eden, an NFT marketplace, had $37 million in volume in the last 24 hours,. About 67% of that activity, or $25 million, was on Bitcoin. That was higher than Blur and OpenSea, two of the more popular NFT marketplaces combined.

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The most actively traded Bitcoin NFT collection is Runestones, boasting volume of $9.6 million in the last 24 hours. By contrast, major Ethereum collections Pudgy Penguins and Bored Ape Yacht Club recorded volumes of $3.7 million and $3.4 million, respectively.

Following the Runes upgrade, Runestone holders are expected to receive airdrops from three different Runes memecoin projects. The first airdrop named, DOG, is expected to be released later this month. The other two memecoins are expected to airdrop later in the year.

btc — Bitcoin fees over time by transaction type (Dune: Cryptokoryo)

Tokens on Bitcoin, BRC-20s, are also experiencing an increase in activity. In the last 24 hours, users trading BRC-20s paid over 18.6 Bitcoin in fees.

Some of these tokens, such as the WZRD from the Bitcoin Wizards Ordinals, are up 12,234% in the last 30 days. The total market capitalisation for BRC-20s according to CoinGecko is over $2.5 billion.

Ryan Celaj is a data correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at ryan@dlnews.com.