Recent data highlights a resurgence in Bitcoin inscriptions, resulting in an uptick in miners’ transaction fees.
Bitcoin Inscriptions Return to 400,000 Daily
In a recent analysis shared on X, James V. Straten delves into the current trend in BTC inscriptions. These “inscriptions” involve embedding data directly into the Bitcoin blockchain.
Inscriptions can encompass various forms of data, including text, audio, images, and even videos. This technology has found applications across the network, notably in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and BRC-20 tokens.
Regardless of the type of data used, inscriptions occupy the same space in a block as regular transactions, influencing all network-related metrics.
While image and other forms of data are naturally more data-intensive, text-based inscriptions are lightweight and contribute minimally to the blockchain’s memory. In the early stages, image-based inscriptions dominated, particularly during the NFT boom.
With the emergence of new applications, cost-effective text transactions gained prominence. The graph illustrates the total Bitcoin inscription count and how the distribution among different types has evolved over the past year.
The Value of Bitcoin Inscriptions
The metric has recently shown a notable surge | Source: @jimmyvs24 on X
The graph illustrates that Bitcoin inscriptions experienced significant popularity from May to September. However, these transactions saw a decline in momentum in October.
With the recent rally in Bitcoin’s price approaching the $35,000 mark, the trend appears to have resurfaced. Straten observes that inscriptions are once again being created at a rate of 400,000 per day, akin to the peak witnessed earlier in the year.
As noted earlier, inscriptions closely resemble regular financial transactions on the blockchain. Hence, the surge in operations at such a rapid pace has impacted the network’s economic dynamics.
Specifically, miners have seen an increase in total transaction fees during phases of inscription fervor, as depicted in the chart below.
