The networks of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have recently witnessed a significant surge in transaction fees due to the increasing usage of cryptocurrencies. According to data provided by BitInfoCharts, the average BTC transaction fee has risen to approximately $10, representing a rise of over 500% compared to the earlier rate of less than $2 seen this month.
It is worth noting that the average BTC fees reached their highest point on October 16 and 18, reaching $18. This spike coincided with a surge in the value of the leading cryptocurrency and an increase in trading volume. In a similar vein, the gas fees for Ethereum transactions have risen above 100 gwei, as reported by EtherScan data.
Presently, it costs users more than $60 to perform a swap across the Ethereum network, approximately $110 to sell a non-fungible token (NFT), and $20 to bridge assets. Data from CryptoFees also reveals that Bitcoin’s daily fees averaged at $10.65 million from November 16 to November 18, surpassing Ethereum’s average fee of $6.9 million for the same period.
Factors Behind the Surge in BTC Transaction Fees
Market analysts have attributed the recent increase in BTC transaction fees to the resurgence of Ordinal Inscriptions. These digital assets, which resemble NFTs but operate on BTC’s smaller denomination known as satoshis, gained traction earlier in the year, indicating Bitcoin’s foray into the NFT sector. Although interest in these assets diminished as the market evolved, there has been a resurgence as they expanded to other blockchain networks such as Polygon and Litecoin.
