OKX admits testing ‘collection program’ as Bitcoin fees skyrocket

OKX has acknowledged testing a new program on Bitcoin’s network, leading to the average transaction fee soaring to more than $50 per transfer.

,According to data from mempool.space, the average transasction fee on the Bitcoin network surged to as much as $52 on Friday, requiring over 5.4 BTC (around $400,000) in fees to be paid to miners to generate a single block in the Bitcoin network. Crypto exchange OKX appears to be responsible for the abnormal spike in transactional fees on the Bitcoin network

After questions were raised, OKX’s Chinese account promptly addressed them on X, confirming that the exchange was behind the recent spike. They stated that OKX had been “testing a collection program” and has now ceased the test.

As of press time, the exact method by which OKX managed to significantly alter Bitcoin’s network fee landscape remains unclear.

Web3 analyst @1999_eth has suggested that the exchange may have deployed a flawed script. Regardless of the cause, the incident has impacted the entire network, with over 330,000 transactions currently stuck as of press time.

Bitcoin network congestion typically surges during periods of high transaction volume or huge events in the crypto market. For instance, during Bitcoin’s rally to the $20,000 level in 2017, the number of unconfirmed transactions in the mempool soared to approximately 180,000, causing delays of several days for users awaiting transaction processing.