As we approach the half of 2023, memecoins are back in style and the latest frenzy has driven Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees to highs unwitnessed in two years.

Data from Crypto Fees revealed that Bitcoin transaction fees rocketed in early May, hitting its highest point since May of 2021. The total amount of fees paid on the Bitcoin blockchain was $3.5 million on May 3, which represents a 400% surge from late April, with YCharts computing the average Bitcoin transaction fee to equate $7.2 as a maximum.

The ongoing memecoin frenzy has witnessed a surge in cryptocurrencies including Pepe (PEPE), resulting in multi-year-high transaction costs for Bitcoin. Galaxy Research findings deduced that half of all Bitcoin transactions on May 2 were related to BRC-20 transactions, which is an experimental token standard modeled after Ethereum’s ERC-20 token standard which enables traders to issue and transfer fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain.

The Bitcoin blockchain is not the only one affected by the memecoin hype, with Ethereum transaction fees also hitting an aggregate amount of $19 million; according to Crypto Fees, it is a figure unseen since May 2022.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/memecoin-hype-drives-bitcoin-transaction-fees-to-multi-year-highs

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/05/04/bitcoins-frenzy-of-activity-pushes-average-transaction-fee-over-7-nearly-2-year-high/

https://cryptofees.info/protocol/btc

https://cryptofees.info/protocol/eth

https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_fee