The Bitcoin network has been under increasing strain recently due to an influx of users and activity sparked by the Ordinal inscription craze and the BRC20 token economy. This caused an overload of the mempool, as the number of unconfirmed transfers grew to an all-time high of 500,000+ on May 7, 2023. However, the network is now successfully clearing up the congestion, resulting in a drastic reduction in onchain fees. Currently, the average transaction fee for a high-priority transfer is just $3, a reduction of more than 90% compared to a few days ago, when the average fee was over $31. In addition, the number of unconfirmed transactions is now just over 300,000, with 185 blocks remaining to be mined in order to clear the backlog. The global hashrate remains steady at 342 EH/s, and the upcoming difficulty adjustment is expected to be in the range of 0.1% to 1.94%.
Mary King
- 2023-05-11
Bitcoin Network Clears Congestion, Lowers Transaction Fees
The Bitcoin network has successfully cleared up the congestion caused by an influx of users and activity, reducing onchain fees by more than 90%. The global hashrate remains steady, and the difficulty adjustment is expected.
