Bitcoin transaction costs surpass those on Ethereum amid Ordinals resurgence

Bitcoin’s 7-day average transaction fee has surpassed that of Ethereum’s, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard.

In the last week alone, Bitcoin’s average transaction fee increased 48.4% from $8.59 on Nov. 12 to $12.75 on Nov. 19. Conversely, Ethereum’s average transaction fee was $7.55 on Nov. 19.

“While both chains have seen an uptick in activity recently (and in turn fees), the recent resurgence of Ordinals minting and trading seems to have pushed Bitcoin to have an average transaction fee higher than Ethereum’s,” The Block research analyst Rebecca Stevens said.

The 7-day moving average of the average transaction fee on Bitcoin has surpassed that on Ethereum since Nov. 9, Stevens noted, adding that the gap is now much wider than when they briefly flipped in early October.

Bitcoin Ordinals

Bitcoin Ordinals are a type of non-fungible token recorded on the Bitcoin network. Several advancements throughout the past decade have made the minting of non-fungible tokens, along with their metadata, cheaper and easier on the Bitcoin network.

September saw a peak in Ordinals trading, followed by a slump in October, The Block previously reported. Startups specializing in Bitcoin Ordinals have seen venture capital interest, such as Taproot Wizards’s $7.5 million seed raise on Nov. 16.