From Low to High — Bitcoin Fees Jump Over 129% in 4 Days

After a short period of diminished onchain network fees, the expense of sending bitcoin has begun climbing once more, hitting a midweek average of 73.3 satoshis per virtual byte (sats/vB) or $11.48 for each transaction. Currently, a backlog of 207 mempool blocks is pending, waiting to process about 134,000 unconfirmed transactions, a situation that has persisted since Nov. 3, 2023.

Bitcoin’s Onchain Fees Begin to Rise Again

From Feb. 18 to Feb. 25, 2024, the cost for an average onchain transaction on the Bitcoin network was below the $5 threshold, and during this period, the cost for a median-sized transaction didn’t exceed $2 per transaction.

By Wednesday, the average fee escalated to 73.3 sats/vB or $11.48 per transaction, and the median fee reached 39 sats/vB or $6.10 per transaction. This indicates the average fee soared by 129.6% and the median fee escalated by 204.99% within just four days.

The current count of unconfirmed transactions stands close to 134,000, as per Johoe’s Bitcoin Mempool Statistics. Mempool.space data indicates there are 211 mempool blocks in the queue, equivalent to 378 megabytes of transaction space. The web portal further shows some bitcoin transfers going through at 15 sats/vB.

Although Ordinal inscriptions are ongoing, the pace has moderated since the year’s outset, leading to a marginal decline in the daily transaction confirmation rate. Since the onset of February 2024, the tally of daily transactions confirmed by miners has not surpassed 430,000.

The combined impact of bitcoin’s appreciating value and increasing onchain fees has bolstered miners’ profits. The hash price of bitcoin, or the estimated earnings from 1 petahash per second (PH/s) of computing power per day, is on the verge of breaking the $110 benchmark.

Despite the BTC price elevation, miners generated the same revenue level as in January 2024, albeit earning slightly less from transaction fees. Furthermore, since the beginning of February, the capacity contained within the Lightning Network has shown a declining trend.

What do you think about the latest uptick in onchain fees on the Bitcoin network? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.

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