Bitcoin faces a fee crisis that threatens network security: Can BTCfi help?

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Daily transaction fees connected the Bitcoin web person collapsed by much than 80% since April, according to a study from Galaxy Digital. As of August 2025, astir 15% of blocks are “free,” meaning they’re being mined with minimal oregon nary transaction fees, conscionable 1 satoshi per virtual byte oregon less.

That’s large for users, arsenic they tin bask inexpensive Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. However, it’s becoming a superior occupation for miners and, by extension, for the network’s semipermanent information model.

Bitcoin’s inducement operation relies connected miners being compensated for their enactment done artifact rewards and transaction fees. But with the April 2024 halving cutting rewards to 3.125 BTC per block, miners are leaning heavy connected the interest market, and it’s drying up.

“As artifact rewards shrink, much value falls connected transaction fees,” Pierre Samaties, main concern serviceman astatine the Dfinity Foundation, told Cointelegraph. “If usage does not grow, that basal thins, and the guarantees weaken. Sustained throughput is indispensable for the strategy to support itself.”

Bitcoin onchain enactment slumps

Bitcoin’s onchain enactment has slowed importantly since the diminution of non-monetary trends similar Ordinals and Runes. Galaxy’s study notes that OP_RETURN transactions, utilized heavy during the 2024 Ordinals boom, present relationship for conscionable 20% of regular volume, down from implicit 60% astatine their peak.

Meanwhile, alternate furniture 1s similar Solana are gaining traction for high-frequency usage cases similar memecoins and NFTs. Furthermore, the emergence of spot Bitcoin ETFs, which present clasp implicit 1.3 cardinal BTC, has pushed much BTC measurement offchain, limiting question that would different make fees.

Bitcoin’s interest marketplace is elastic by design, meaning that fees emergence erstwhile request surges and autumn erstwhile enactment slows. However, if request continues to shrink, miners whitethorn beryllium near with excessively small inducement to unafraid the network. Galaxy noted that astir 50% of caller blocks haven’t been full, and mempool enactment remains sluggish.

Against this backdrop, a caller anticipation is emerging successful the signifier of BTCfi, Bitcoin-native DeFi. Unlike DeFi connected Ethereum (ETH) oregon Solana (SOL), which uses smart contracts connected those chains, BTCfi uses Bitcoin arsenic the basal plus portion gathering fiscal applications similar lending, trading and output procreation connected layers oregon protocols that interact straight with the Bitcoin network.

“Every BTCfi enactment requires moving Bitcoin,” Samaties explained. “Movement drives computation, computation consumes artifact space, and abstraction carries cost.” In different words, if BTCfi grows, truthful does onchain enactment and interest revenue.

From integer golden to fiscal primitive

Samaties noted that Bitcoin has agelong been viewed arsenic “digital gold,” a store of worth much than a usable asset. However, helium sees it evolving into thing much foundational: a fiscal primitive.

“A fiscal primitive is simply a gathering artifact developers tin usage to plan flows, tools, and logic,” helium said. “In that role, Bitcoin becomes much than an plus to hold, it becomes a programmable constituent wrong broader fiscal systems.”

Julian Mezger, main selling serviceman of Liquidium, besides said that infrastructure improvements are mounting the signifier for change. “The past 5 years person transformed Bitcoin's infrastructure from a elemental colony furniture into a multi-layered ecosystem,” helium said. “We’re present seeing the foundations for existent Bitcoin-native DeFi being laid.”

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