Bitcoin miners are currently earning more from processing transactions on the blockchain than from creating new BTC, which is a positive development for the industry. The mining reward for creating new BTC is set to decrease again next year, potentially threatening the profitability of mining in the long term. However, the recent increase in profits from processing transactions could offset this. The emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Bitcoin's blockchain has contributed to this trend, surprising many in the industry. The average transaction fee on Bitcoin has also increased significantly in May.

The market capitalization of BRC20 tokens built on the Bitcoin network has grown by 192% in just four days, reaching $279 million with over 13,530 tokens in circulation. Ordi is the most valuable BRC20 coin, with a market valuation of $200 million, followed by pepe at $17.6 million.

Bitcoin miners have received a boost in profits after the scheduled difficulty level adjustment resulted in a positive balance, which is the first time since February that the difficulty has decreased. The current mining difficulty level is at 48T (trillions), and this change affects the miners' profitability, as less competition for the reward means increased estimated income for those still connected to the network. The current price for Bitcoin hashpower rose to 0.088 USD/TH/day, up from 0.077 USD/TH/day on May 2, indicating increased profitability for miners' operations. Recently, there has been increased interest in BRC-20 tokens, which are used to create memecoins, leading to network congestion in Bitcoin within a few days of their release, and this could be a possible factor in the hashrate drop. As a result of this high activity on the network, the fees are now making up 12.4% of the miners' revenue. Moreover, the sudden interest in tokens registered through Ordinals is responsible for the backlog of transactions that need confirmation, leading to a surge in average commissions. The current transaction fees range from 70 sat/vB to 100 sat/vB, and a transaction of 140 vB (median) would require payment of almost $4 USD to get confirmed within the first few minutes.

The average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network has risen to its highest level in nearly two years, according to data from Glassnode. The spike in network fees has been attributed to a renewed interest in meme coins, such as PEPE and SPONGE, which has ignited a surge in transactions relating to the experimental BRC-20 token standard. The BRC-20 standard allows users to issue and transfer fungible tokens via the Bitcoin blockchain.

Bitcoin miner Stronghold Digital (SDIG) is to host 4,000 mining machines supplied by Cantaloupe Digital, a subsidiary of rig maker Canaan (CAN).

Russia has become the second-largest country in the world in terms of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining, with 1 gigawatt of power involved, according to BitRiver, a company that provides colocation services for cryptocurrency mining operations. The United States maintains its position as the leader with a mining capacity of 3-4 GW. Lack of clear regulations regarding cryptocurrencies in the United States may lead to a potential market distribution shift. The positive trend in mining capacity in Russia is attributed to the restrictions imposed on mining activities in Kazakhstan and China due to electricity shortages. Kazakhstan has signed a law on digital assets that regulates cryptocurrency mining, which will provide a sense of security for mining industry players to plan their operational and financial activities, execute major projects, draw investments, and advance related sectors of the Russian economy.

Ukrainian regulators have announced their intention to adopt the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which was recently passed by the European Parliament.

Crypto-related stocks are seeing a second day of big gains after bitcoin on Monday evening pushed through $30,000 for the first time since June 2022. At press time, it's managed to hold that advance, trading at $30,100.

A new bill aimed at regulating Bitcoin mining in Arkansas has been approved by both the House of Representatives and Senate and is now awaiting Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature. The Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 seeks to establish guidelines for Bitcoin miners and protect them from discriminatory regulations and taxes, guaranteeing that firms have the same rights as data centers.

Bitcoin miners are on track to hit their best month in terms of revenue since May 2022. Miners brought in at least $718 million in March so far.