Bitcoin transaction fees have recently undergone a notable easing, following a surge that saw fees exceeding $18 per transaction on two occasions last week. As of November 24, 2023, the average transaction fee settled at approximately $5.89, with the median fee per transfer standing at $2.86. The spike in transaction costs, reaching over $18 per transfer on November 16 and 18, has since seen a decline.
Bitcoin’s average transaction fee slides to $5.89
Data from November 24 indicates an average cost per transaction of about $5.89, marking a significant decrease from the previous day’s average of $14.06 per transfer. This explains the volatile nature of block space costs over the past few weeks. According to information from Dune Analytics, Ordinal inscriptions, a measure of blockchain activity, have continued to flourish, with over 300,000 mints daily following a peak of more than 475,000 inscriptions on November 19.
On November 24, about 347,791 inscriptions were minted, and as of November 25, bitcoin miners have processed over 280,000 inscriptions. The surge in inscriptions, coupled with the volume of financial transactions, has led to the mempool being filled with over 200,000 transfers. As of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on November 25, there are 206,697 unconfirmed transactions, equating to a backlog of approximately 269 blocks worth of space, as per mempool.space.
Blockchain activities and miner revenue milestones
The transaction fee metrics culled from mempool.space on November 25 indicate that a “no priority” transaction currently costs an estimated $1.17. In contrast, a “high priority” transaction is priced at 45 sat/vB, which amounts to around $2.38 per transaction. Additionally, data suggests that November’s BTC mining revenue is already outpacing last month’s figures, even before the month concludes. In October, miners earned about $880 million in total rewards and fees.
As of November 25, 2023, miners have earned $945 million in total, inclusive of transaction fees and the subsidy. At 4:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, miners have gained more than $124 million from fees alone, excluding the subsidy. This figure is nearing the 2023 record of slightly over $125 million in fee revenue, set in May. Given the current state and if fees remain high and in a volatile state, it appears likely that miners could surpass this record over the next five days. This trend underscores the ongoing dynamics within the Bitcoin network. The network is influenced by factors such as transaction demand, blockchain activity, and miner incentives.
