Bitcoin transaction fees higher than Ethereum

Anyone who wants to send Bitcoin on the main network currently pays a hefty price. However, the mining industry probably benefits from the high cost.

Over the past three days, transaction costs for Bitcoin higher than for the smart contract protocol Ethereum.

According to data of Crypto Fees, BTC miners collected $6.8 million in fees yesterday, April 18 - about $1.75 million more than was paid out to stakers.

BTC miners could also enjoy higher fee income in previous days.

Overall, however, Ethereum has an edge: in a 7-day comparison, ETH stakers brought in nearly $500,000 more than BTC miners.

What gives Bitcoin users a headache - an on-chain transaction currently costs $16 - will likely benefit the mining industry. According to the hashrate index transaction costs now account for about 24 percent of the total block reward.

This block reward consists of the transaction fee and the so-called block grant. The latter will be halved in a few hours. Miners will then receive only 3.125 BTC per block found instead of 6.25 BTC.

If fees remain high, this may bring relief - at least in part - to miners. However, the long-term effects of the upcoming halving remain to be seen.