Bitcoin Transaction Fee Surged Due to the BRC-20 and Inscription Frenzy

Bitcoin is experiencing a surge in transaction activity involving Ethereum-style tokens (BRC-20) and non-fungible token (NFT)-like “inscriptions”, which has driven up congestion on the network and pushed the average fee rate to the highest in nearly two years.

On Wednesday, the average fee per Bitcoin transaction rose to $7.25, the highest since July 2021. Total fees on Bitcoin have also jumped, with Bitcoin’s total transaction fees, which are paid by users to miners, jumping to around 124 BTC or roughly $3.5 million, on May 3, representing a 484% increase in the past 14 days. The surge in activity is attributed to the rise of BRC-20 tokens and Ordinals inscriptions, both of which require transaction fees.