Tokens associated with Bitcoin layer 2 solutions have been performing better than bitcoin (BTC) following the recent halving of the Bitcoin blockchain mining reward. Since the halving, STX, the native token of the leading Bitcoin layer 2 network Stacks, has seen a nearly 20% increase to $2.87, as the per block coin emission was reduced to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC. In comparison, Bitcoin has only experienced a 4.7% growth to $66,300. STX is currently one of the top 25 best-performing cryptocurrencies in the past 24 hours.

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

Bitcoin layer 2 solutions are projects designed to address scalability and transaction speed issues on the Bitcoin blockchain. These solutions are built on top of the main blockchain and aim to enhance scalability by processing transactions off-chain.

In contrast to Ethereum layer 2 projects that focus on scalability for smart contracts, Bitcoin Layer 2 projects concentrate on scaling the main blockchain and introducing programmable features without the use of an Ethereum-like virtual machine.

The recent outperformance of Bitcoin layer 2 tokens coincides with a surge in transaction fees on the Bitcoin blockchain post-halving. Data from Glassnode indicates that the average transaction fee jumped to nearly 0.0020 BTC, the highest level since early 2018.

The spike in fees can be attributed to the introduction of a new protocol called Runes, which enables users to create and trade tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The launch of Runes prompted a rush of token minting and trading activities, leading to increased transaction volumes and higher fees.

According to Ord.io, there have been a total of 3,700 Runes inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain as of now.

Last edited at：2024/12/16