Crypto exchange OKX has confirmed that its testing of a new program on the Bitcoin network led to a dramatic increase in transaction fees, with the average fee surging to over $50 per transfer.
Data from mempool.space revealed that on Friday, the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network spiked to as much as $52. This surge required over 5.4 BTC (approximately $400,000) in fees to miners for generating a single block. The unusual spike in transactional fees has been attributed to activities by OKX.
Responding to community concerns, OKX’s Chinese account on social media platform X acknowledged that the exchange was responsible for the fee increase. They clarified that the spike was due to OKX “testing a collection program” which has since been halted.
However, the specific details of how OKX’s testing led to such a significant impact on Bitcoin’s network fees remain unclear. Web3 analyst @1999_eth speculated that a flawed script deployed by OKX could be the cause. Regardless of the exact reason, the testing has led to a network-wide impact, with over 330,000 transactions currently stuck in the queue as of press time.
Bitcoin network congestion typically increases during periods of high transaction volume or major market events. For example, during Bitcoin’s price surge to $20,000 in 2017, the number of unconfirmed transactions in the mempool soared to approximately 180,000, causing delays of several days for users waiting for their transactions to be processed.
This recent incident highlights the vulnerability of the Bitcoin network to significant fee spikes and congestion during periods of increased activity, whether due to market events or testing by major exchanges like OKX.
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