Ethereum miners continue to enjoy lucrative payouts for their efforts in 2021, while the smart contract blockchain platform edges closer to a move away from its proof-of-work consensus. The past few months have been phenomenal for much of the cryptocurrency space, as the likes of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and various other coins have seen monumental gains in value. The increased volume of transactions and users have also directly benefited the cryptocurrency mining ecosystem.

Ethereum miners in particular have banked serious profits due to the success of decentralized finance projects running on their blockchain. These various DeFi platforms have driven transaction volumes and activity on the Ethereum blockchain, which has led to skyrocketing fees and increased processing times. While end-users have to bear the brunt of increased transaction fees, miners have been smiling all the way to the bank.

As a result, Ethereum miners saw record revenues of over $830 million in January 2021, levels not seen since the first few weeks of 2018 before Ether, Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency markets crashed after the spectacular highs of December 2017.

While Bitcoin sits firmly at the top of the list of cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, BTC miners are not enjoying the same level of profitability as Ethereum miners. Philip Salter, head of operations at Genesis Mining, told Cointelegraph that while mining Ethereum is “super profitable” at the moment, current miners and potential newcomers must still be aware of the initial barriers to entry.