Bitcoin transaction charges surged in early Could, reaching their highest level over the previous two years, in accordance with knowledge from Crypto Charges.

On Could 3, the overall quantity of charges paid on the Bitcoin blockchain reached $3.5 million, leaping about 400% from late April. The typical Bitcoin transaction price reached as a lot as $7.2, in accordance with YCharts.

The continued buying and selling frenzy of memecoins like Pepe Coin (PEPE) has triggered an undesirable consequence for Bitcoin (BTC) — driving its transaction prices to multi-year highs.

Complete Bitcoin transaction charges between Could 2021 and Could 2023. Supply: CryptoFees

The newest improve in BTC transaction charges is primarily attributed to a surge in Bitcoin exercise involving BRC-20 transactions. Based on knowledge from Galaxy Analysis, 50% of all Bitcoin transactions on Could 2 had been related to BRC-20 transactions.

Modeled after Ethereum’s ERC-20 token customary, BRC-20 is an experimental token customary permitting customers to difficulty and switch fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain. The usual was launched in March 2023 by a pseudonymous on-chain analyst often known as Domo.

The BRC-20 token customary has rapidly develop into a serious pattern within the cryptocurrency trade, particularly amid the sharp progress of the PEPE memecoin. The token has rallied greater than 600% over the previous seven days, reaching its all-time excessive of $0.00000216 on Could 5.

PEPE 30-day value chart. Supply: CoinGecko

The Bitcoin blockchain isn’t the one blockchain affected by the continuing memecoin hype. Fuel charges on the Ethereum blockchain have additionally been skyrocketing to new multi-month highs just lately.

On Could 2, ETH transaction charges hit an mixture quantity of greater than $19 million, a stage not seen since Could 2022, in accordance with Crypto Charges. The Ethereum blockchain stays the costliest community when it comes to transaction charges on the time of writing.

Associated: Bitcoin miners have earned $50B from BTC block rewards, charges since 2010

Regardless of the newest spike in Bitcoin transaction charges, the present BTC transaction price remains to be removed from all-time excessive ranges. The very best Bitcoin transaction charges had been recorded in April 2021, when the typical BTC transaction price nearly reached $70 amid a serious decline within the Bitcoin community hash price. The earlier highest level in BTC transaction charges was in 2017, with transaction prices surging above $60.

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