Bitcoin Network Fees Surge as Ordinal Inscriptions Dominate Blockchain
November has seen a significant surge in network fees for Bitcoin (BTC) as the demand for ordinals overwhelms the leading blockchain. According to data from CryptoFees.info, BTC’s transaction fees rose from $779,549 at the beginning of the month to a peak of $11.63 million on November 17th, marking a massive 1,391% increase.
While the fees have slightly retraced, they are still hovering around the $11.559 million mark. Ordinals allow users to inscribe digital assets onto a single satoshi, the smallest unit of BTC, to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin network.
Data from blockchain tracker Dune Analytics reveals that ordinals have dominated BTC’s transactions in November, with the majority of transactions involving text embedded onto satoshis.
There have been a total of 41,666,862 ordinal inscriptions generating fees of 2,809.5313 in BTC, valued at $102,901 million, as of writing. The token linked with BTC’s ordinal protocol, ORDI, has also shown signs of continuing its bullish momentum, with a 4.75% increase in the last 24 hours, trading at $23.80.
Hot Take
With the surge in network fees and the dominance of ordinal inscriptions, Bitcoin is seeing a significant shift in demand and usage patterns, potentially signaling a new era for NFTs and digital asset inscriptions on the blockchain.