BTC Q1 Status Report: Inscription transactions and fees fell 40% and 60% month-on-month, halving will bring Runes token protocol and Epic launch

Messari has released its Q1 2024 Bitcoin State of the Market report, which shows that BTC's price has increased by 69% to $71,310 compared to the previous quarter, reaching a new historical high in April as the new halving cycle approaches. The success of spot BTC ETFs is a driving factor in the price trend, with over $12 billion in inflows in the first quarter. Spot BTC ETFs currently hold 831,000 BTC, or $59 billion. Transaction fees and costs have decreased by 40% and 60% respectively. However, NFT exchanges still have daily sales of over $10 million. The April halving will bring the launch of the Runes token protocol and Epicsat. Miner income (in USD) has increased by 34% compared to the previous quarter, and miners are exploring glyphs and MEV as additional sources of income. Some miners have already conducted bulk sales to meet the needs of Ordinals builders. The TVL of programmable Bitcoin layers has increased by 127% compared to the previous quarter. Dozens of new layers are being built to expand Bitcoin and increase its programmability, with many layers exploring BitVM-based bridging and state verification.