Bitcoin Transactions Hit Record High with Ordinals

Bitcoin’s average daily transactions over seven days reached a record high yesterday for the first time since December 2017.

According to IntoTheBlock data, the average number of daily transactions over the week starting April 24 was 396,350.

Bitcoin Transactions Hit Peak

Per the blockchain analytical firm, the increased numbers suggested a growing active usage of the blockchain network.

Another blockchain data aggregator Glassnode reported that Bitcoin network’s 7-day moving average transactions reached 426,337.14 on April 29 — crypto reporter Wu Blockchain tied this increase to the rising demand for Inscriptions.

Ordinals Inscriptions Cross 2.5 Million

According to Dune analytics data, the number of inscriptions on Bitcoin is now more than 2.5 million — reaching a daily inscription all-time high of 223,311 on April 29.

Ordinals Inscriptions are similar to NFTs that can be inscribed into the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin, Satoshi. Earlier in the week, BeInCrypto reported that these Inscriptions had sharply risen after a decline recorded earlier in the month.

Through processing Ordinal transactions, BTC miners have earned 217.83 BTC as fees, according to Dune analytics data. Since its launch in late 2022, Bitcoin NFTs have become increasingly popular, with demand for inscriptions dominating transactions.

Grayscale Says Ordinals are Positive For Bitcoin Network

A recent report from the Grayscale said Ordinals had brought more attention to Bitcoin, which could help its reputation and perception. The asset management noted that “Ordinals represent one of the larger opportunities for Bitcoin adoption.” It added:

“While legitimate concerns exist, we believe that ordinals have the potential to positively impact the Bitcoin network in the longer-term, attracting a new wave of enthusiastic users and developers to embrace the Bitcoin community.”

In February, a Matixport research said the NFTs could help push Stacks, a BTC layer2 network, into a billion-dollar token. Since then, STX’s market cap has crossed the $1 billion mark before dropping to its current $993.38 million.

Meanwhile, some Bitcoin maxis believe the Ordinals are a waste of block space because they make transactions more expensive for ordinary users. According to them, the BTC network should only be used for payments.

Bitcoin Maintains $29,000

BTC continued to trade above $29,000 despite a mild decline of 0.2% in the last 24 hours, according to BeInCrypto.

Earlier in the week, the flagship digital asset dropped to around $27,000 after rumors emerged that the U.S. government was selling some of its BTC holdings.