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The average commission on the Bitcoin (BTC) network exceeded $37, reaching a yearly high.
The increase in blockchain fees was caused by another wave of activity in the Ordinals segment. This has led to increased demand for block space.
A similar situation happened in April-May 2023. At that time, after the popularization of inscriptions — notes that can be inscribed onto the Ordinals blockchain — the average commission reached $19. Then, the demand for Bitcoin NFTs fell, but grew again in Q3 2023.
Commission increases occurred due to the high demand for inscriptions on the Ordinals network.
The number of these tokens and the volume of commissions show a steady upward trend.
The beneficiaries were miners whose income jumped to the levels of Bitcoin quotes at historical highs of around $69,000.
6.25 btc fees, 6.25 btc subsidy in this block. i guess we don't need to worry about mining incentive in the future after all. https://t.co/0aApwiobZG
— Adam Back (@adam3us) December 16, 2023
Some users noted that this network fee level makes mass cryptocurrency adoption problematic.
Currently the "high priority" #btc txfee is $37
— Kawaii Crypto (@kawaiicrypto) December 17, 2023
How many people earn less than $37 daily?
5.39 BILLION people.
TWO THIRDS of the worlds population are currently excluded from sending a "fast" #bitcoin tx unless they want to spend more than a days income.
Well done maxipads. pic.twitter.com/0JhNbH0kS7
However, according to popular influencer hodlonaut, the network of the first cryptocurrency is not intended for this, and high commissions are its protection from attack. The expert believes that second-layer solutions like Liquid Network or Lightning Network, which are specifically designed for mass use, should be used for accessible transactions.
Kinda blows my mind that so many people seemingly have never reflected on the obvious fact that fees will be high with high demand for block space.
— hodlonaut 80 IQ 13%er 🌮⚡🔑 🐝 (@hodlonaut) December 16, 2023
Fees are currently artificially and temporarily high due to JPEG clownery, but it is nothing more than a glimpse into the future.…
He is confident that the structure of the Bitcoin network allows for a constant increase in value by the design of the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm. The expert believes it is impossible to maintain low commissions in this situation, as failed forks like Bitcoin Cash showed, the analyst claimed.
At the same time, commissions have also increased in other blockchains on which analogs of Ordinals are issued. On Dec. 16, gas consumption for operations with “inscriptions” in EVM networks jumped to $8.37 million. Avalanche accounted for $5.6 million of the total amount, while Aribitrum One’s figure was $2.1 million.