According to IntoTheBlock, an on-chain analytics startup, Bitcoin (BTC) transaction fees, which represent the amount paid to miners to include transactions in the next block, have reached new highs in 2023.

IntoTheBlock reported that average daily fees have increased 35 times since December 2022, leading to substantial profits for Bitcoin miners. The surge in transaction costs is primarily attributed to Ordinals, a protocol enabling the storage of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain as inscriptions.

Bitcoin Ordinals, introduced in January, facilitates the creation of NFTs known as inscriptions, marking a significant development for the NFT and smart contract narratives on the Bitcoin network. The data reveals that users have generated a cumulative total of 51,720,061 Ordinals inscriptions.

In addition to the spike in network fees, Santiment suggests that 2023 could be one of the best-performing years of the century across various major sectors. Bitcoin and Ethereum are noted to be close to breaking through one-and-a-half-year highs set just three weeks ago. Bitcoin’s recent rally is fueled by speculation about the potential approval of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Investors are eagerly awaiting a decision by the SEC on January 10 regarding a spot Bitcoin ETF, with Grayscale seeking approval to convert its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. As of the latest update, Bitcoin was trading around $43,088 after recovering from recent losses.