Bitcoin Transaction Fees See Sharp Decline Since December Peak, Network Congestion Persists

On Jan. 10, 2024, the interest for high-priority transactions is acceptable astatine 42 satoshis per virtual byte (sats/vB), amounting to $2.66 per transaction. The mean transaction interest stands astatine 98.9 sats/vB, equivalent to $11.17 per transfer. Although determination has been a diminution successful onchain fees, they presently stay astatine their highest level since May 2021. Moreover, the web is inactive experiencing congestion with 262,143 transactions awaiting confirmation.

Bitcoin’s Onchain Fees Plunge Post-December Peak

Since mid-December 2023, erstwhile Bitcoin’s onchain fees peaked astatine $37 to $40 per mean transfer, determination has been a important decrease. The mean onchain fees person plunged by implicit 69% from that peak, presently lasting astatine 0.00025 BTC, oregon $11.17 per transfer arsenic of Wednesday. According to bitinfocharts.com, a transaction with a median size interest volition incur a outgo of 0.000096 BTC, oregon $4.32.

Data from mempool.space shows that for high-priority transactions, the outgo is present 42 sats/vB, translating to $2.66 per transaction. As of Jan. 10, 2024, the interest for a no-priority transaction is $2.28 per onchain transaction. The mempool is presently clogged with 262,143 pending transactions, and artifact intervals are exceeding the accustomed 10-minute average. Mempool.space reports the mean artifact clip arsenic astir 10 minutes and 54 seconds.

To process each the unconfirmed transactions, it volition instrumentality 546 blocks oregon 743.83 megabytes (MB) of artifact space. The backlog of unconfirmed transactions has seen a simplification implicit the past week, coinciding with a slowdown successful Ordinal inscription mints. The Bitcoin hash price, which estimates the daily value of 1 petahash per 2nd (PH/s) of hashing power, stands astatine $85.66. This fig is somewhat down from the $93.05 per PH/s it reached astatine 7 a.m. Eastern Time the erstwhile day, Tuesday.

Last week, onchain fees stood higher, with 351,371 transactions successful the queue awaiting miner approval. The outgo for a high-priority transportation was past 129 sats/vB, amounting to $7.73, marking a 190% summation compared to today’s rates. The congestion that’s plagued Bitcoin for a twelvemonth now, coupled with the existent interest structure, reflects the dynamic quality of Bitcoin’s web and the ongoing challenges successful balancing demand, transaction processing speed, and cost.

What bash you deliberation astir the latest Bitcoin web fees and the protocol’s miners grappling with congestion successful the backlog? Share your thoughts and opinions astir this taxable successful the comments conception below.