The second quarter in the crypto market was eventful, with both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) experiencing downward trends. According to IntoTheBlock’s “On-chain Insights” newsletter, BTC miners were selling their reserves rapidly, while activity on layer-2 blockchains surged fourfold.
Following its fourth halving on April 20, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 12.8%, contrary to expectations of a price surge due to a supply shock. Analysts at IntoTheBlock suggested that long-term holders may have been taking profits during this period.
In June alone, miners sold over 30,000 BTC, equivalent to nearly $2 billion. This selling pressure could be attributed to the reduced profit margins for miners post-halving.
On the other hand, Ethereum experienced a modest 3.1% decline, which was offset by the approval of spot ETH exchange-traded funds in the US. This approval led to a price increase of over 10%, with these investment products expected to attract significant capital inflows similar to Bitcoin’s ETFs.
Notably, Ethereum’s ecosystem witnessed a rise in transactions on layer-2 blockchains like Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism following the integration of EIP-4844.
The introduction of “blobs” through EIP-4844 significantly reduced transaction fees for layer-2 blockchains, fostering increased on-chain activity. Although there was a short-term decrease in fee revenue, this development is expected to bring long-term benefits to the network.