This Week in Crypto: Bitcoin Halving Impact, DEX Dynamics, and Stablecoin Movements

Data & Insights is a weekly series that showcases key charts from The Block's Data Dashboard. This week, we explore miner performance post-Bitcoin halving, a decline in Ethereum DEX traders, a rise in exchanges' USDT balances, Scroll's increased activity in posting layer 1 data, and the surge in DAI's daily trading volumes.

Bitcoin Halving and Its Market Impact

On April 19th, Bitcoin experienced its latest halving, reducing the block reward from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. This event, which occurs every four years, is expected to influence Bitcoin's scarcity and potentially its price. Despite the reduction in mining rewards, miner revenue hit a record high on April 20th, driven by a spike in transaction fees related to the Runes protocol. This adjustment brought about by BTC's halving poses long-term profitability challenges for miners, potentially leading to industry consolidation.

Shifts in Ethereum's DEX Activity

The number of DEX traders on Ethereum has seen a significant drop from over 95,000 in early March to just 63,000 last week. While initial activity was boosted by a crypto rally and interest in memecoins, the GMCI MEME index has recently declined from 300% to 200% YTD. Meanwhile, centralized exchanges experienced an increase in spot volume due to geopolitical tensions and persistent high inflation, influencing trading dynamics differently than DEXs.

USDT Holdings on the Rise

Exchanges are reporting their highest USDT reserves in a year, with a 7-day moving average reaching $568 million. This increase reflects a growing trend of traders holding USDT during periods of market volatility, with Bitcoin recovering to $65,000 after a recent dip below $60,000. This trend corresponds with a cooling phase following a bullish rally in the crypto market.

Ethereum Layer 2 Networks Adapt to Cost-Saving Measures

Post-Dencun upgrade, Ethereum's Layer 2 networks like zkSync Era and Starknet have transitioned from calldata to blobs for data storage, resulting in significant cost reductions. Scroll, however, lagged behind, leading to increased data publishing fees.

Before February, Scroll's share of fees for publishing data on Ethereum was under 10% , but it has now risen to about 50%. In April alone, Scroll spent 837.6 ETH on data publishing, surpassing the combined total of 820 ETH spent by all other rollups. With the upcoming Bernoulli upgrade , Scroll aims to integrate blob data to lower costs and enhance efficiency.

DAI's Record Trading Volume

DAI has seen unprecedented trading volumes on Ethereum, with transactions exceeding $50 billion on consecutive days in mid-April, reaching a peak of $86 billion. This surge is largely attributed to complex MEV transactions and the utilization of MakerDAO’s flash mint module , which allows for the minting of DAI for short-term trading strategies.

Data & Insights is a weekly newsletter and article series by The Block Research Analyst Rebecca Stevens that highlights recent trends and top charts from The Block’s Data Dashboard . Sign-up to receive Data & Insights in your inbox every Monday for free. Previous articles in the series are available with a subscription to The Block Pro .