In-depth | ETH miners' income has increased significantly? Crypto market data insights in June

By Larry Cermak

summary

Many macro indicators, such as on-chain transaction volume, spot and derivatives transaction volume, website traffic, etc., have reached lows

The total supply of stablecoins has grown by more than 100% since February.

More than 15% of Ethereum miners’ income comes from transaction fees; much higher than Bitcoin’s 4%.

Adjusted on-chain volume

Corrected total on-chain transaction volume, a proxy for economic throughput, fell 3% in June after reaching a 10-month high in May. Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume fell 9% (from $67.8 billion to $61.9 billion), while Ethereum’s transaction volume increased 28% (from $12.5 billion to $16 billion). In June, Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume was 3.9 times that of Ethereum.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

If stablecoins settled on Bitcoin and Ethereum are included, Ethereum’s on-chain transaction volume almost surpassed Bitcoin’s at the end of June.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

Stablecoins

Since the beginning of February, the total supply of stablecoins has grown by more than 100% - from $5.68 billion to $12.04 billion. The fastest stablecoin growth in history coincided with the panic caused by the new coronavirus and the global liquidity crunch it triggered economically.

In June, stablecoin supply grew from $11 billion to $12 billion. It is unclear whether the new supply is coming from new demand or from existing funds already on exchanges being converted into stablecoins.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

The revised stablecoin on-chain transaction volume in June hit a new record high of 54.9 billion yuan, a month-on-month increase of 13.9%.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

Dai saw the fastest rate of supply changes hands nearly 13 times in June. Binance’s stablecoin BUSD changed hands more than 12 times in June. The least used stablecoins relative to their size are Gemini dollar and TrueUSD.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

Miner income

Bitcoin miners earned $281.6 million in June, down 23% from the previous month and a 15-month low.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

In June, Ethereum miners earned $118.4 million, up 21% from the previous month and a 20-month high.

Source: Coin Metrics, The Block Research

Ethereum transaction fees increased significantly and reached an all-time high, accounting for nearly 17% of total revenue, compared to 10% in May. Bitcoin transaction fees fell from 10% in May to just over 4% in June.

Source: Coin Metrics Coin Metrics, The Block Research

Website traffic

Web traffic to cryptocurrency exchanges fell 14% in June and hit a five-month low. According to SimilarWeb, cryptocurrency exchanges (both spot and derivatives) recorded a total of 98.1 million website visits in June.

Source: SimilarWeb, The Block Research

Binance had the highest estimated visits in June, at about 23.4 million. It was followed by Coinbase with 19 million and BitMEX with 7 million. Binance, Coinbase, and BitMEX attracted 50.4% of the total traffic in June.

Source: SimilarWeb, The Block Research

South Korean exchanges Bithumb and Upbit saw the smallest month-on-month declines in traffic. BitMEX, Bittrex, and Bitfinex all saw declines of more than 20%.

Spot Trading Volume

Cryptocurrency trading volumes fell 32% in June after a 20% increase the previous month. According to The Block’s Trading Volume Index, June’s trading volume was $72.2 billion, compared to $106 billion in May. This was the largest monthly year-over-year drop since August 2019.

Source: CryptoCompare, The Block Research

Binance continues to have the largest market share — the exchange accounted for 56% of legal trading volume in June. Coinbase accounted for 9.5% of trading volume, followed by Kraken (6.7%), LMAX Digital (6.1%), Bitstamp (5.1%), and Bitfinex (3.8%).

Source: CryptoCompare, The Block Research

GBTC

GBTC, a closed-end fund that invests exclusively in Bitcoin, saw its average daily volume fall 24% in June after reaching a 10-month high in May.

Source: Factset Factset, The Block Research

Bitcoin Futures

As of the end of June, the total open interest in Bitcoin futures reached $3.45 billion; compared with $3.54 billion at the end of May.

Source: skew, The Block Research

After setting a record in May, monthly volume in Bitcoin futures fell 40% in June (from $557 billion to $332 billion).

Source: skew, The Block Research

Regulated Futures

On regulated exchanges, open interest in bitcoin futures on CME hit $532 million at the end of last month but stood at $350 million as of the end of June.

Source: skew, The Block Research

Average daily volume in June was $285 million, compared to $395 million in May. Bakkt’s volume in June was more than 10 times that of CME, and its open interest was more than 40 times that of CME.

Source: skew, The Block Research

Ethereum Futures

As of the end of June, the total open interest in Ethereum futures reached $632 million; at the end of May, the total open interest was $705 million.

Source: skew, The Block Research

In June, monthly Ethereum futures volume fell by 16% (from $72.1 billion to $60.7 billion).

Source: skew, The Block Research

Comparison of Bitcoin and Ethereum Futures

In June, the combined open interest and volume of Bitcoin futures were 5.5 times that of Ethereum futures.

Bitcoin Options

On June 25, open interest in Bitcoin options totaled $1.83 billion, and then shrunk by more than 50% as $935 million worth of options contracts expired. By the end of the month, open interest was just over $1 billion.

Source: skew, The Block Research

Monthly Bitcoin options volume fell 15% in June (from $3.73 billion to $3.18 billion).

Source: skew, The Block Research

Ethereum Options

On June 25, Ethereum options open interest totaled $171 million, and then shrunk by more than 30% as $59 million worth of options contracts expired. By the end of the month, open interest was $132.7 million.

Source: skew, The Block Research

In June, monthly Ethereum options volume increased by 55% (from $215 million to $333 million).

Source: skew, The Block Research

Comparison of Bitcoin and Ethereum Options

In June, the total open interest in Bitcoin options was 7.5 times that of Ethereum options. The trading volume of Bitcoin options was 9.5 times that of Ethereum.