The blockchain seems to be in its best shape yet as multiple symbolic milestones signal growth and health of the network.
For starts, Bitcoin all-time cumulative transaction fees are approaching a symbolic amount of USD 1 billion. At the same time, Bitcoin all-time miner revenue (transaction fees plus block rewards) is nearing USD 15 billion - both amounts should be surpassed somewhere around October 14th (give or take a day or two), according to data by Coin Metrics, a crypto asset market and network data analysis firm.
The researchers also noted that daily fees briefly passed BTC daily fees on both September 28th and 29th, by a margin of about USD 20,000 on both occasions.
"However BTC has once again taken the lead since then. On October 6th, BTC had over USD 128,000 daily fees, compared to a little over USD 66,000 for ETH," they added.
However, these aren’t the only historic Bitcoin Network milestones. Recently, the blockchain has also passed 100 quintillion hashes per second (EH/s), and its average hash rate is about to breach the same mark, too. Bitcoin mining difficulty - a measure of how hard it is to compete for mining rewards - is expected to set a new record, too, as major Bitcoin mining pool BTC.com estimates it to reach the 13.29 trillion (T) at block height 598,752 later this week.
Hash rate is the aggregate amount of computing power deployed to process Bitcoin transactions. The higher the hash rate, the more secure the network is, as the more miners are competing for the block reward, which also tends to result in higher mining difficulty.
Bitcoin hash rate chart
Speaking of block rewards, all of these milestones are in the light of upcoming Bitcoin halving, which is expected to occur mid-May 2020. The halving signifies a reduction in the number of Bitcoins rewarded for solving the block. Currently, BTC 12.5 are mined every 10 minutes. After the halving, the miners will be rewarded only BTC 6.25 per block. The halving event used to have a significant effect on BTC prices in the past and thus is an eagerly-awaited event by the most bitcoin and crypto traders.
Naturally, these developments have already got numerous Bitcoin enthusiasts excited for the future:
Bitcoin's hashrate is now 7x larger than it was during price's all-time high of $20,000 in 2017.
We're seeing resources being spent researching, developing, and deploying mining hardware at a record pace.
Investment into bitcoin infrastructure is accelerating. ??
— Rhythm (@Rhythmtrader) October 3, 2019
#Bitcoin hash rate is at an ATH#Bitcoin inflation rate falling/halving#Bitcoin price continues to rise yearly#Bitcoin development level is huge#Bitcoin adoption is at ATH#Bitcoin patents are multiplying #Bitcoin ETF will be approved
— The Crypto Candy ?? (@TheCryptoCandy) October 3, 2019
