Bitcoin Fees Hit Satoshi-Era Levels as Blockspace Demand Evaporates
For context, Galaxy Digital noted that Bitcoin’s mempool activity is lacking as the percentage of not-full blocks has spiked to nearly 50% at times in the past few months
Bitcoin transaction fees have fallen to their lowest point in more than a decade, highlighting a major shift in how the network is being used.
Glassnode data shows that the 14-day simple moving average of daily fees now sits at 3.5 BTC, a level not seen since 2011 when the protocol was still in its early adoption phase.
Why is Bitcoin’s Network Fee Declining?
Weaker demand for blockspace has driven the decline, reflecting Bitcoin’s broader shift in purpose. Investors now hold the asset primarily as a store of value instead of using it as a payment rail.
On-chain data confirms this shift. Public companies such as Strategy have aggressively expanded their Bitcoin holdings in recent months, positioning the asset as digital capital rather than a medium for everyday transactions.
For context, Galaxy Digital noted that Bitcoin’s mempool activity is lacking as the percentage of not-full blocks has spiked to nearly 50% at times in the past few months.
“These blocks fail to reach the maximum weight limit (4,000,000 weight units) despite room to include additional transactions. In short, the mempool, Bitcoin’s waiting room for pending transactions, is frequently empty, and when it isn’t, it’s full of transactions that don’t need to pay high fees to get processed quickly,” Galaxy pointed out.
