Bitcoin Continues to Record Blocks Above the 3.75 MB Range as Ordinal Inscriptions Near 150,000

As Ordinal inscriptions approach the 150,000 mark, blocks larger than 3 MB have become commonplace, with many blocks near the 4 MB range. Meanwhile, after the average transaction fee on-chain rose 122% higher at the beginning of February 2023, the average fee has remained the same over the last few weeks and is currently coasting along at $1.77 per transfer.

Ordinal Inscriptions Close in on Reaching 150K Milestone

On Feb. 19, 2023, the number of Ordinal inscriptions is approaching 150,000 after a significant increase in demand since the end of January. A week ago, Bitcoin.com News reported that blocks larger than 3 MB are now commonplace and are being mined regularly. This has increased the average block size, which is calculated by adding up the total of all block sizes mined in a day and dividing the total by 144, which is the average number of blocks mined daily. Statistics from ycharts.com show that the average block size reached a high of 2.525 MB on Feb. 12, 2023.

The average block size has decreased and was 2.114 MB on Feb. 18, 2023. Along with the blocks larger than 3 MB, there are also an increasing number of blocks near the 4 MB range being mined. According to statistics from blockchair.com, a long list of blocks that are 3.75 MB or larger has been mined. For example, block heights #774,628, #777,302, #776,310, #777,320, and #777,303 are all 3.93 MB or larger. All of the blocks larger than 3.75 MB have been mined in February.

Average onchain fees for Bitcoin have remained stable after a 122% increase in average fee costs during the first week of Feb. 2023, and have continued to be within the range of $1.7. On Feb. 15, 2023, BTC fees did increase to a high of $2.465 per transfer. As of Feb. 18, 2023, median-sized fees are roughly 0.00003 BTC or $0.744 per transfer. Median fees on Bitcoin have also remained stable after the initial increase during the first week of February.

Only four days ago, the number of Ordinal inscriptions hit 100,000, and now it is steadily approaching 150,000. As of the time of writing, there are approximately 145,630 Ordinal inscriptions embedded into the Bitcoin blockchain.

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What do you think about Ordinal inscriptions coming awfully close to reaching 150,000? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.