BTC Transaction Fees Surge To $47 While Market Crashes: Analysis

BTC transaction fees surge to $47 as 130,000 transactions await confirmation while the market crashes so let’s read more in our latest bitcoin news today.

Bitcoin miners were working through a vast backlog of unprocessed transactions while the computing power on the BTC network also plummeted. The price chart flashed red numbers and the harsh percentage that drops today after BTC dropped 15% overnight to lows of $52,144 and for many is the day to get out of the market. The exodus caused a huge traffic jam on the BTC blockchain.

The hashrate of Bitcoin mining pools plummeted in 24 hours. Antpools fell by 24.5%, https://t.co/1YRYr58dLy fell by 18.9%, Poolin fell by 33%, Binance pools fell by 20%. The reason is that Northwest China is undergoing a complete blackout for safety inspections. pic.twitter.com/vaWgYsMEFH

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 16, 2021

Close to 130,000 transactions awaited confirmation on the blockchain according to the data by JohoeHoenicke and with the BTC transactions fees surging at a four-month high of $46, marks a 200% increase since April 4 when the average transaction fee was $15.56. Blockchain critic David Gerard commented on the unprecedented congestion to BTC holders that runs “to the exits.”

US TREASURY TO CHARGE SEVERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING USING CRYPTOS – SECURITIES LAWYERS FAMILIAR WITH THE YELLEN TASK FORCE PLAN SAID

— Andrew Fisher (@acpandy) April 18, 2021

One trader explained that the crash can be attributed to a rumor that the US Treasury is about to chase after huge financial institutions for laundering crypto. If this rumor turns out to be true, the traders could be selling their crypto because they fear another price drop. What makes things worse are the power outages in China’s Xinjiang province which is a hotspot for BTC mining. A few operational BTC miners place upward price pressure on the transaction fee.

as everyone runs for the exits, the bitcoin blockchain is a little … clogged right nowhttps://t.co/UFeTVSdl2r pic.twitter.com/mXitGELqVD

— David Gerard 🐍👑 🌷 (@davidgerard) April 18, 2021

Bitcoin’s hashrate which shows the effective computing power on the global BTC network dropped from 145 exahash to 105 exahash a day later. It is now at 120 exahash per second as per BitInfocharts. While some traders are running for the exits, others considered today’s crash an opportunity to grab BTC at bargain prices.

As recently reported, Another wild weekend passed on the crypto markets as BTC dips below $52K again, dropping by $9000 in a few hours amidst rumors suggesting the US Treasury Department will change a few financial organizations for laundering money with crypto. The altcoin markets are deep in the red as well with double-digit percentages which drained more than $350 billion from the market cap.

BTC dropped in a few hours from $61K to intraday lows of $51,500 which became the lowest price tag in almost a month and the BTC market capitalization dropped as well to the $1 trillion marks. Despite bouncing off and recovering a few thousands of value to the $56K level while BTC is still more than 10% down on a daily scale.