The network just witnessed an unprecedented increase in fees, leaving an essential question on everyone’s mind: Can new token standards affect mining rewards and the security structure of Bitcoin?
The fourth Bitcoin halving cut block rewards in half, reducing miner income at the exact moment the Runes protocol launched. This overlap created a sharp shift in how the market viewed incentives, the bitcoin price today and the future funding of network security.
Instead of relying solely on diminishing subsidies, the ecosystem was suddenly confronted with a large-scale experiment in fee-driven sustainability.