- Bitcoin transaction fees hit the highest point in nearly two years over the weekend, with some users paying a little over $26.
- Several voices within the Bitcoin community have viewed the congestion leading to high fees as a direct attack on the network.
- Binance temporarily halts transactions twice before reverting to regular business, describing it as a learning process.
The debate on the purpose of Bitcoin (BTC) Ordinals is now at the fore of community spaces following record ordinal mints leading to the congestion of the network.
The Bitcoin network was overwhelmed through the weekend, resulting in rising transaction fees to the dismay of users. In less than two weeks, unconfirmed transactions on the mempool surged from 134,000 to 469,000 on May 7, causing a 343% increase in transaction fees.
The surge in transaction fees was the highest recorded in two years, with high-priority transactions costing up to 654 sat/vB (approximately $26), according to mempool.space. Most users bemoaned the predicament pointing fingers at Bitcoin Ordinals, while others called it an attack on the network.
Over the past week, BTC Ordinals have occasioned a daily rise in trading volume, with currently over 3 million mints within its first 5 months. Despite chain data pointing to the hike in fees to Ordinals, users took to Twitter to claim their beloved assets were under attack.
Twitter user @proofofjogi claimed that we are in the “then-they-fight-you stage.”
“High transaction fees are the chosen pain point by the attacker, probably to make Bitcoin unusable for smaller players. We’re in the then-they-fight-you-stage,” he added.
Bitcoin maxi Dylan LeClair also restated the “attack vector” theory, although he added that it will have no impact on the network in the long run.
“Pretty obvious attack vector for three later agencies with an infinite budget over the short-term. Changes nothing over the long term tho, though miners thank ‘em.”
Binance resumes BTC withdrawals following shaky weekend
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, temporarily halted BTC withdrawal twice in 24 hours, citing network congestion. The exchange resumed withdrawals, with transactions now successfully sent to wallets.
In a statement released by the exchange, fees have been adjusted to prevent a similar occurrence. At the same time, close monitoring will continue to be carried out, including exploring the Bitcoin Lightning Network.
“We’re looking to enable BTC Lightning network withdrawals for users within the next few months. The BTC Lightning network works just like any network; users can withdraw via the Lightning network from the Binance platform into their private wallets.”
The decision of Binance to pause withdrawals sparked concerns about the exchange’s health on social media leading to a slight drop in price. BTC now trades at $27,635 at the time of writing, a 3% fall in the last 24 hours.
