According to Mempool, the Bitcoin network is currently experiencing congestion, with over 560,000 unconfirmed transactions. Memory usage has also increased to 1GB, and transaction fees have reached over 20 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB).

This congestion is believed to be caused by the recent surge in sats minting, leading to a backlog of transactions. The average block mining time has increased to 10.9 minutes, indicating that miners are struggling to keep up with the high demand.

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, had to temporarily suspend Bitcoin withdrawals due to the overloaded blockchain and high transaction costs.

The growing number of unconfirmed transactions and clogged blocks raises concerns about the potential impact on Bitcoin’s price. Users are experiencing significant delays in processing their transactions, which could lead to frustration and affect Bitcoin’s usability for everyday transactions.

Transaction fees exceeding 20 sat/vB may discourage smaller transactions and those seeking cost-effective ways to transfer value. Users might consider alternatives or delay transactions until the congestion eases.

As Bitcoin faces congestion and high fees, some users may turn to Altcoins that offer faster and cheaper transactions. This could lead to increased interest and investment in certain altcoins, temporarily diverting capital away from Bitcoin. The current Bitcoin price of $25,743.94 is struggling to surpass the $26,000 threshold, and network congestion is seen as a significant contributing factor to this challenge.