Record $166M Ethereum Fees Last Month Were 6 Times Bigger Than Bitcoin’s

Ethereum miners earned over six times more in fees compared to those working on Bitcoin in September.

Glassnode data shows Ethereum's total transaction fees stood at an all-time high of $166 million for the month – far more than the $26 million taken in Bitcoin fees.

Ethereum fees long trailed those on Bitcoin, but have been on a tear over the past few months as surging interest in DeFi led to record transaction volumes.

Fee revenue on Ethereum first outpaced Bitcoin's in June – the same month decentralized lender Compound released its governance token and kick-started the DeFi mania.

As the DeFi space picked up momentum, the difference between Ethereum and Bitcoin fees has increased from only $10 million in June to well over $70 million by August.Thursday's data shows the fee disparity between the two protocols practically doubled to $140 million in September.

Monthly Ethereum fees were just $1.5 million at the start of 2020.

This coincides with total value locked (TVL) in DeFi, which first broke the $1 billion in February but surged over the summer to well over $11 billion, according to DeFi Pulse.

HIVE Blockchain cited DeFi as a major contributing factor when reporting it earned approximately $12 million in fees in the second fiscal quarter, 30% up from Q1.