In December 2023, Bitcoin miners earned substantial sums due to cryptocurrency network fees, reaching $170 million solely from transaction charges. The total monthly income for miners is estimated at $1.4 billion.
This increase in revenue is linked to heightened network activity, particularly due to the release of Bitcoin-NFTs or Ordinals. In December, fees accounted for 20% of the total block reward, higher than the 13% in May when the number of transactions in the network hit a historical peak.
Miners could earn up to 6,800 BTC in December just from transaction fees at the current level of activity. November also saw an increase in fees, associated with the activity around Bitcoin-NFTs. With the average Bitcoin price at $42,1 thousand, the total mining revenue could reach $1.42 billion, comparable to the income in December 2021 during the peak of the "bull" market.
Despite a 92.2% increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty since the beginning of the year, miners' revenues continue to grow. Following the latest recalibration in November, the difficulty reached a historical high of 67.96 T and currently stands at 67.31 T.
