A sudden uptick in Bitcoin tickers, transaction fees, and unconfirmed transactions over the weekend sparked concerns about a potential Denial of Service (DoS) "attack" on the network. However, industry analysts have reassured the community that there's no cause for alarm.
The high demand on the network led to total fees per block temporarily exceeding the block subsidy reward of 6.25 BTC on May 7, the first time this has occurred since 2017. During this period, fees of 6.76 BTC were recorded for block No.788695.
The surge in activity and demand for block space has been attributed to the rise in Ordinals inscriptions. According to analytics provider Glassnode, on May 7, a record 75% of Bitcoin on-chain transactions used Taproot, a protocol upgrade aimed at improving privacy, efficiency, and flexibility.
Despite initial speculation about a DoS attack being responsible for the recent congestion, activity on the Bitcoin network has since cooled down, and fees have fallen back below the block reward.
Mempool Space explorer data reveals that the next block is expected to be processed, generating 4.51 BTC in fees.
The surge in activity and demand for block space has been attributed to the rise in Ordinals inscriptions. According to analytics provider Glassnode, on May 7, a record 75% of Bitcoin on-chain transactions used Taproot, a protocol upgrade aimed at improving privacy, efficiency, and flexibility.
Despite initial speculation about a DoS attack being responsible for the recent congestion, activity on the Bitcoin network has since cooled down, and fees have fallen back below the block reward.
Mempool Space explorer data reveals that the next block is expected to be processed, generating 4.51 BTC in fees.
