Bitcoin fees up more than 2000% since August due to renewed interest in Ordinals

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Bitcoin transaction fees have risen to a six-month high amidst a resurgence in the popularity of Ordinals Inscriptions.

Data from BitInfoCharts reveals that Bitcoin’s average transaction fee has reached its highest point since May, surging over 2,000% since its August low of $0.64.

Per the data aggregator, an average BTC transaction would cost around $15.86 as of press time.

Market observers have attributed this spike to the renewed enthusiasm surrounding Ordinals.

Ordinal Inscriptions are digital assets similar to NFTs inscribed on a satoshi, BTC’s lowest denomination. These assets had gained popularity earlier in the year and heralded Bitcoin’s foray into the NFT space. But interest in them soon faded as the market landscape evolved.

However, these assets are now enjoying a renaissance after Binance listed Ordinals’ ORDI tokens on its platform. Following the news, the crypto token’s value surged by more than 290% over the last seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Bitcoin Ordinals Inscription Data. (Source: Dune Analytics)

Dune Analytics data, curated by dgtl_assets, further shows that the daily inscriptions on Bitcoin averaged more than 150,000 again after a brief lull between September and October. Per the dashboard, approximately 39 million inscriptions have been minted, generating 2,346 BTC, roughly $85.45 million, in transaction fees.

This surge has also propelled Bitcoin into the second-largest blockchain by NFT sales volume, surpassed only by Ethereum, CryptoSlam data showed.

However, the increase has also led to a substantial rise in unconfirmed transactions on the network, with over 150,000 transactions currently in the backlog.

While the elevated transaction fees may pose challenges for Bitcoin traders, they substantially benefit miners. Increased transaction fees translate to higher rewards for miners, especially as they brace for the upcoming reward cut associated with Bitcoin’s next halving.

Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital pointed this out on social media platform X, saying it recently earned 3.25 BTC in fees from mining a block.

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