Part 1 Beginner Why long-term crypto holders borrow against assets instead of selling A strategic guide to liquidity management, capital preservation, and the real tradeoff between selling and borrowing crypto Open guide 
Ethereum transaction fees overtake Bitcoin as Runes speculation subsides
Shift in fee dynamics: Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin post-Runes speculative drop.
Quick Take
In the week preceding the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving on April 20, transaction fees for Bitcoin exceeded those of Ethereum; this trend persisted until April 27, according to Glassnode data.
CryptoSlate meticulously tracked fee trends across both blockchains before, during, and after the halving. Data unveiled a notable but temporary spike in Bitcoin fees, fueled by speculative activity surrounding Runes.
However, by April 28, Ethereum fees had slightly outpaced Bitcoin, hitting $3,339 million compared to $3,315 million for Bitcoin. Bitcoin's 7-day average fees remained elevated at around $11.8 million, according to Cryptofees.
The mempool.space platform, which tracks Bitcoin transaction fees, indicated that high-priority transactions had dropped to around 36 sat/vB, roughly $3.12 at current prices.
Meanwhile, as anticipated, Bitcoin's mining difficulty is expected to drop roughly 2% by the next adjustment in 9 days. The average block time currently stands at approximately 10.2 minutes, slightly above the targeted 10 minutes.
As the post-halving dust settles, fee markets appear normalizing, with Runes-driven speculation fading into the rearview mirror.
