Bitcoin Layer 2 Tokens Outperform BTC Post-Halving

Bitcoin layer 2 solution tokens have demonstrated superior performance to BTC following the highly anticipated halving of the mining reward on the blockchain.

Since the event, these tokens have surged by 5% to 20%, outpacing the top crypto by market cap.

Stacks (STX) Takes Center Stage

According to CoinGecko data, the market cap for Bitcoin layer 2 solutions is $4.3 billion, marking a 5.6% increase in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the trading volume is $184 million.

Stacks (STX), a Bitcoin layer 2 solution, has been among the top-performing cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. The STX token has surged almost 20% to $2.87 since the halving event.

Bitcoin, on the other hand, has not experienced significant growth. The token is up slightly over 4.5% to $66,046 since the halving event, 1.7% over the last 24 hours, and down 0.8% over the last 7 days.

Bitcoin’s price saw significant volatility last week, dropping from over $66,800 to below $60,000. However, it has since recovered.

Other layer 2 tokens, such as Elastos’ ELA token and SatoshiVM’s SAVM, have also experienced gains of 11% and 5%, respectively, since the halving.

Other altcoins have observed slight daily gains, except for TON, which has experienced a significant double-digit decline despite Tether’s announcement of expanding to the TON blockchain.

Notably, Bitcoin layer 2 solutions address blockchain scalability and transaction speed limitations. These projects operate on the Bitcoin blockchain, offering scalability by processing transactions off the main chain.

Bitcoin Fees Surge

On April 20, when the halving occurred and the Runes protocol launched, Bitcoin transaction fees reached an average of $128.45, according to ycharts data. This figure is over six times higher than the average fee rate the day prior and approximately double the previous record set three years ago.

The fee surge can be attributed to the launch of the Runes protocol, which enables users to “etch” and mint tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The introduction of Runes prompted speculators to rush into minting tokens and trading meme coins, leading to increased transaction activity and, subsequently, higher transaction costs.

Notably, the fees have since come down, and the transaction fees dropped to $34.8 on April 21. Meanwhile, according to data from Ord.io, the total number of Runes inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain has already reached 3,700.