Bitcoin transaction fees have reached a six-month high due to a surge in new inscriptions, intensifying the competition for block space. According to data from BitinfoCharts, the average BTC transaction fee is approaching $6 as of today.
The renewed interest in Bitcoin Ordinals has led to an increase in on-chain transactions, contributing to the significantly elevated fees. In an environment reminiscent of Q2 this year, block space is being occupied by ordinal inscriptions.
BRC-20 Ordinals can significantly increase the number of transactions for Bitcoin miners to process on-chain, leading to congestion in the mempool and heightened competition for confirmations.
As a result, higher fees are required, and transactions without them will confirm much more slowly than usual. Bitcoin's mempool currently has a backlog of over 120,000 unconfirmed transactions, according to live data from Mempool.space. In contrast, at the beginning of October, the queue contained fewer than 30,000.
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