Bitcoin Mempool Drops 90% Despite Localbitcoins Records

A drop in Bitcoin’s mempool size is welcome news for anyone using the network regularly, a sign that processing speeds are improving.
A drop in Bitcoin’s mempool size is welcome news for anyone using the network regularly, a sign that processing speeds are improving.

Bitcoin’s mempool has dropped almost 90 percent in a month, despite record transaction numbers reported in June.

Data from Blockchain and Coin Dance show that while various markets set new volume highs for the week ending Saturday, the backlog of unprocessed transactions has continued to decrease.

Bitcoin Mempool Drops 90% Despite Localbitcoins Records

In addition to improved network performance, fees have also tailed off recently, with 21.co suggesting a “fastest and cheapest” rate of 330 satoshis per byte on Monday. This had previously been as high as 450 satoshis.

Responding to the mempool deflation, community commentators on Twitter appeared surprised:

Sluggish network performance has been a central topic of debate for those demanding the implementation of a scaling solution for Bitcoin.

June 16 saw the release of SegWit alpha: part of a process which will see a beta launch later this month and SegWit signalling from July 21.

Cointelegraph previously detailed the knock-on effects of the mempool issue for consumer-focused Bitcoin businesses, such as exchanges and merchant platforms.

Localbitcoins and BitPay have both raised fees in response to growing transaction costs.

Fellow exchange Kraken was forced to reconsider its flat Bitcoin withdrawal fee of 0.0025 BTC ($6.40) last week after users complained en masse that such rates were unwarranted.