Here Is What Bitcoin Miners Actually Earn In 2024

Bitcoin miners have earned over 70 billion dollars since the creation of the Bitcoin network. An analysis reveals that BTC users have paid miners a total of 71.49 billion dollars, which represents only 3.6% of the record market capitalization of 2 trillion dollars achieved by BTC.

Bitcoin miners have earned only 3.6% since the creation of BTC

The miners’ revenue consists of two main sources: block subsidies and transaction fees. Of the 71.49 billion dollars, 67.31 billion comes from block subsidies, which refers to the creation of new BTC; and 4.18 billion comes from transaction fees paid by users. This distribution shows that transaction fees represent a small fraction of the total revenues of miners.

Despite the significant gains made by miners, their revenue represents only a tiny part of the total market capitalization of BTC. This situation highlights the “tremendous” security value provided by miners to the Bitcoin network. Indeed, the BTC network has processed a cumulative volume of 131.25 trillion dollars in transactions, underscoring the importance of the security provided by miners.

A Prosperous Year for BTC Miners

Despite these alarming figures present in this analysis, BTC miners continued to thrive in 2024, facing the challenges of the market. Publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies, such as Hut 8 and MARA Holdings, saw their stocks rise and continued to accumulate BTC. Hut 8, for example, announced a share buyback program to create a strategic reserve of bitcoin, while MARA Holdings acquired bitcoins valued at 600 million dollars in early December.

In summary, although BTC miners have earned billions of dollars, their revenue represents a small fraction of the total market capitalization of bitcoin. This situation underscores the importance of the security provided by miners and the robustness of the Bitcoin network.