Another Major Bitcoin Transaction Backlog
It
was only to be expected there would be Bitcoin congestion at some
point. Given the recent surge in popularity, that is not entirely
surprising. However, this new backlog has grown out of proportions by
quite a margin. With over 165,000 transactions waiting
for confirmations, things are not looking that great. It appears
Bitcoin users are forced to pay higher fees or hold off on broadcasting
transactions for the time being.It is not the first time the Bitcoin network faces a backlog, though. Events like these have transpired multiple times in the past. It is evident there is a need for scaling solutions to handle this influx of transactions. Moving transactions off-chain or increasing the block size are two valid options to do so. Reaching consensus on which concept is better is quite difficult, though.
There does not appear to be a particular reason for the congestion right now. No spam transactions have been detected so far. It is always a bit of a guessing game when backlogs like these occur, though. Previous attempts were caused by spam transactions nearly every time. For the time being, this is a golden time for Bitcoin miners, though. Higher fees mean higher earnings for them, thus they won’t complain about the situation anytime soon.
The bigger question is when the situation will be resolved. It usually doesn’t take too long for backlogs to subside, though. Then again, the congestion has never been this big either. An interesting development, to say the least. For now, using higher transaction fees will help transfers confirm faster. However, that is not the optimal course of action to take Bitcoin mainstream in the future.
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