The price of Bitcoin is surging ahead of its halving, but network fees aren’t keeping pace. Despite the price of Bitcoin increasing by 5.9% to $9,000 in the last 72 hours, the network fees have remained relatively stable. This is in contrast to previous years, where a surge in the price of Bitcoin has often been accompanied by a rise in network fees. The average transaction fee currently sits at around $1.60, which is 200% higher than the $0.50 fee recorded at the beginning of the year but still significantly lower than the $34 average fee recorded during the 2017 bull run.
Bitcoin’s halving event, which is expected to occur on 11 May, will see the reward for mining Bitcoin blocks halved from 12.5 Bitcoin to 6.25. This event has traditionally been followed by a significant rise in the price of Bitcoin. However, it is yet to be seen whether the current trend of stable network fees will continue, or whether they will rise in correlation with the price of Bitcoin post-halving. The stability of network fees amidst the price surge indicates a matured network capacity, which might not be perturbed by price volatility.
