Welcome back to our podcast, Bitcoin Season 2. Today, we dive into various topics in the crypto space. We started with a discussion about the recent trends in Bitcoin transactions. We’ve seen transaction activity increase, only to drop significantly, leading to reduced transaction fees. Notably, the mempool hasn’t cleared in over a year, marking a significant change.
We reviewed Alkimiya’s transaction fee dashboard, showing that despite the raw number of Bitcoin transactions being high, regular financial transactions still pay the majority of the fees. Interestingly, Rune transactions, despite being numerous, contribute less to fee revenue.
Next, we discussed Bitcoin L2s, including Bob, Meso, and Merlin. Bob has $300 million in TVL, mostly in wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum. Meso holds $130 million in TVL with 70,000 active addresses. Merlin stands out with $1.5 billion in TVL, showcasing significant growth despite some operational pauses.
We then moved to the ordinals marketplace, highlighting its recent volume increases and the emergence of new users. Despite some projects like Magic Eden gaining market share, the overall market has seen price drops across top collections.
We also covered Ethereum NFTs, which have seen a decline in active traders, now below 4,000 for the first time since 2021. This trend reflects a broader shift with new user inflows moving to Solana and Bitcoin instead.
We also touched on recent significant investments, like UTXO Management’s $1 million into Bank of Nakamoto Dollar, a stablecoin backed by various digital assets. Additionally, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor continues to invest heavily in Bitcoin, adding another half billion dollars through convertible senior notes.
The episode wrapped up with insights into the evolving landscape of Bitcoin L2s, some of which lack strong Bitcoin integration, emphasizing the need for caution. Upcoming interviews and events, like the World Digital Mining Summit and the Mining Disrupt conference, were also highlighted.
Thank you for joining us. Stay tuned for more updates and discussions in the next episodes.
