[tux3]

Since May 5th the number of unconfirmed transactions have soared to unprecedented heights [0], and the fees are completely out of control.

Last weekend I found out I had a handful of old mBTCs lying around, and while transferring them I made the mistake of only paying a $.35 fee instead of the currently recommended $2. The transaction [1] still hasn't gone through and I expect it will stay in limbo for at least several weeks.

Considering what Bitcoin was supposed to be, this a pretty big step back and the situation doesn't compare very favorably to the big payment networks, to say the least. No matter which side of the User Activated Soft Fork divide you are on, I think everyone already agrees that something needs to be done real soon. If the SegWit switch doesn't go as planned and the community fails to reach consensus once again, things are going to look pretty bleak.

[0] https://blockchain.info/charts/mempool-size?timespan=60days [1] https://blockchain.info/tx/e2456f994910fb40d938d5ebe39b40df6...