Bitcoin’s record traffic has miners counting tiny tips ⛏️

Transaction fees accounted for just 0.6% of Bitcoin ($BTC) miners’ total earnings during the period examined by Firsthand, even as network activity reached a record. Ahmed Barakat’s report, fact-checked by the CryptoNews Editorial Team and last updated 1 hour ago, found that the Bitcoin network averaged 578,000 transactions per day from January 1 through September 28, 2026, surpassing the previous annual record of roughly 525,000 transactions per day in 2024.

For the 30 days through October 14, Bitcoin averaged 701,660 confirmed transactions per day, approximately 49% above 469,638 transactions per day during the comparable period a year earlier. Average active addresses moved in the opposite direction, declining 12% from 729,972 to 644,263.

The rise in volume has not translated into stronger Bitcoin transaction fees, which have fallen sharply. The average transaction in September paid approximately 492 satoshis in fees, leaving miners increasingly dependent on newly issued $BTC rather than payments from users.

Bitcoin was quoted at $81,223.64, down 1.35% over 24 hours, while record transaction throughput continued to contrast with minimal fee-based miner revenue.