On Thursday, Bitcoin network fees took a significant leap, crossing the $100 mark shortly after 8:45 a.m. EDT. However, this spike was short-lived as fees quickly dropped, settling at just $0.34 per transaction by 7 p.m. EDT. Data collected from the day’s blocks revealed that a few fortunate bitcoin miners managed to snag some blocks with substantial fees attached. For instance, Block 857,911 brought Antpool a hefty reward of 15.55 BTC in fees, in addition to the standard 3.125 BTC block subsidy.

Bitcoin Miners Earn Big as Network Faces Short-Lived Spike

Bitcoin fees climbed on Aug. 22, hitting levels not seen since June 7, 2024, when the average BTC fee reached $83. On Thursday, onchain fees quietly escalated, soaring above $105 per transaction or more than 1,250 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB). By 7 p.m., fees had dropped significantly, and at block height 857,986, F2pool earned a modest 0.03522003 BTC in onchain fees, amounting to $2,128.77 at the current BTC exchange rate.

Similarly, blocks 857,987 and 857,988, discovered by Foundry, yielded 0.05425859 BTC and 0.03077392 BTC, respectively. On the other hand, when fees climbed to $105 per transaction, BTC miners enjoyed a hefty windfall from the increased revenue. Antpool and Foundry, the two largest BTC mining pools by hashrate, captured the highest fees in consecutive blocks—857,911 and 857,912. Block 857,911 delivered 18.67 BTC, combining the 3.125 BTC subsidy and 15.55 BTC in fees, totaling $1.12 million.

Foundry’s block 857,912 reaped 12.158 BTC in fees, resulting in a total payout of 15.283 BTC, or $923,733. Block 857,910 wasn’t too shabby either, earning Antpool 9.51 BTC in fees, while block 857,913 brought in 8.08 BTC in fees for Antpool. Blocks 857,914 through 857,918 each saw fees exceed 1.33 BTC. Aside from Antpool and Foundry, other fortunate pools that snagged some of these fees included Viabtc, F2pool, and MARA Pool. Fees surpassing the 1 BTC mark are 28.2 times higher than those logged at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Shortly after block 857,918, Luxor pocketed 0.98 BTC, and Binance Pool secured 1.096 BTC in onchain fees after discovering block 857,923. Data indicates that from Aug. 21 at 10 p.m. EDT to Aug. 22 at 4 p.m. EDT, the daily hashprice increased from $44 to $53 per petahash per second (PH/s). This slight bump in revenue offers some relief to miners struggling in a challenging environment. However, the uptick was brief, and fees have since returned to their previous levels before today’s onchain fee spike.