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Bitcoin Network Fees Surge to $52 Amid OKX Consolidation, 30% Fees, 10x Average

Jun 7, 2024, 03:51 PM

Bitcoin network fees have surged to unprecedented levels, reaching approximately $52 per transaction, driven by a significant consolidation operation by the cryptocurrency exchange OKX. The current fee rate has soared to 520 sat/vbyte, with some transactions paying as much as 30% in fees. This consolidation effort has led to a congested state in the Bitcoin network, with over 330,000 unconfirmed transactions. Recent blocks have contained more than 5 Bitcoin in fees, with total subsidies and fees exceeding 8 Bitcoin per block. OKX has acknowledged testing a new program on Bitcoin's network, contributing to the spike in fees. The mempool shows blocks with total subsidy and fees of over 8 Bitcoin per block, indicating a significant impact on transaction processing times and costs. The operation has filled up at least 10 blocks, with OKX consolidating UTXOs to their hot wallet at over 10x the past 24-hour average fee. This massive consolidation operation appears to have gone wrong, causing fees to spike for at least the next hour.