Bitcoin Transaction Fees Spiked by 750% to $417 Million in Q2 2021, Nearly Ten Times Last Year’s Total

Due to increasing adoption worldwide, cryptocurrencies are generating higher income from transaction fees than major mainstream companies. According to the research data analyzed and published by Wette.de, the total transaction fees on the Bitcoin network in Q2 2021 hit $416.6 million. Compared to the $48.5 million recorded in Q2 2020, that was a 750% YoY jump.

The growth comes amid rising crypto adoption around the globe. According to a Chainalysis report, global cryptocurrency adoption skyrocketed by 881% over the past year.

Calculated ARR for BTC Transaction Fees Rose to $2.986 Billion in April 2021

The calculated annualized revenue run rates (ARR) for BTC transaction fees rose to $2.986 billion in April. This figure is higher than the ARR of Shopify for the past year, which was $2.929 billion.

In Q2 2021, the Bitcoin network's median transaction fees rose by 1,080% from $1.24 in Q2 2020 to $14.64. Median daily active addresses saw a jump of 11.5% from 880,000 in Q2 2020 to 982,000. Total BTC transaction volume rose nearly fivefold, going from $120.2 billion to $527.1 billion, a 338% YoY increase.

However, after hitting an all-time high of nearly $65,000 in April, BTC closed the quarter at around $35,000. China's crackdown on miners was partly responsible for this huge price decline. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), close to half of Bitcoin's mining hash rate came from China (46.04%) in April 2021. As a result of the mining crackdown, BTC transaction fees in June fell by 93% from April highs. Trading volume also nearly halved from the all-time high set in May.

Bitcoin's overall rise in Q2 transaction fees was not an isolated case. Ethereum's transaction fees shot up 5,000% as a result of growth in transaction volumes. From $36.7 billion in Q2 2020, total ETH transaction volume rose by 2,000% YoY to $777.1 billion.