Bitcoin fees surge to new heights
OKX has admitted to conducting a trial on Bitcoin’s network, resulting in the average transaction fee skyrocketing to over $50 per transfer.
According to data from mempool.space, the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network surged to a staggering $52 on Friday, requiring more than 5.4 BTC (equivalent to around $400,000) in fees to be paid to miners for generating a single block on the Bitcoin network. The abnormal increase in transaction fees on the Bitcoin network appears to be linked to crypto exchange OKX.
After inquiries were made, OKX’s Chinese account promptly responded on X, confirming that the exchange was the cause of the recent spike. They explained that OKX had been conducting a “collection program” test, which has now been halted.
At the time of writing, the exact method used by OKX to significantly impact Bitcoin’s network fee landscape remains unclear. Web3 analyst @1999_eth has suggested that the exchange may have implemented a flawed script. Regardless of the reason, the incident has had a widespread effect on the network, with over 330,000 transactions currently stuck.
Bitcoin network congestion typically increases during periods of high transaction volume or significant events in the crypto market. For example, during Bitcoin’s surge to $20,000 in 2017, the number of unconfirmed transactions in the mempool rose to around 180,000, leading to delays of several days for users waiting for transactions to be processed.
