Important facts:
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On average, it cost about $30 to use the network on May 8th.
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That day, a total of almost 4,000 bitcoins were paid out in transaction fees.
In these first few days of May 2023, being given space for a transaction on a Bitcoin block is almost a privilege. Grid commissions are very high due to congestion and have just reached an average not seen since the end of April 2021.
According to the on-chain analytics company glass knot, average fees paid on May 8, 2023 were 0.0011 Bitcoin (BTC). According to the CriptoNoticias price index, it is $30.38 per transaction. It was last around these numbers in April 2021.
Other sources such as B. Explorer blockchair.info, agree in the maximum reached, but differ slightly in the final value. In this case it will be pointed out average commissions last Monday were $31.46unreleased as of April 26, 2021.
Bitcoin was also overloaded at the time. China had banned bitcoin miners from operating in the country, and the network lost almost half of its hashrate in just a few days. All of this on top of the start of a bullish cycle that increased demand for using Bitcoin to move funds.
Let’s continue with the statistics There was also a record for the total commissions paid out. As of May 8, transaction fees paid in bitcoin totaled 3,995 bitcoins (BTC), according to reports. mempool.space data. Such a number, equivalent to $110,325, has not been seen since January 2018.
BRC-20 token “guilty” of congestion
The origin of the current demand for Bitcoin has a first and last name: BRC-20 token. 60% of transactions on the network involve these tokens.
This portal has stated that it is an experimental model for issuance of fungible tokens in Bitcoin. They would be like Ethereum’s ERC-20 clones, which allow the creation of all types of tokens on the network, from stablecoins to governance tokens.
For some people in the bitcoin scene, congestion is good because it boosts miners’ profits and secures the network in the future when block rewards are reduced with halvings. Others, however, think it could be an attack to invalidate the financial use of Bitcoin.