October concluded with a resounding resurgence in Bitcoin’s Ordinal inscriptions, culminating in a peak on November 4, 2023. This date witnessed the second-largest number of Ordinal inscriptions minted on the Bitcoin blockchain in a single day.

By the morning of November 5, 2023, the blockchain had registered approximately 37.9 million Ordinal inscriptions, coming second only to the historic high of 440,760 inscriptions set on September 15, 2023. November 4 saw 433,471 new inscriptions, topping the prior second-highest count from July 30, which saw 422,164.

This surge in Ordinal activity on November 4 brought with it an increased volume of Bitcoin transactions, ranking it as the second-most active day in the cryptocurrency’s history in terms of transactions processed. The day’s total of 698,917 transactions neared the all-time high of 703,692 transactions recorded on September 15.

From the inception of inscriptions in December 2022 up to July 22, 2023, Bitcoin miners collected approximately 1,847 BTC in fees from inscriptions. As of now, that figure has grown to 2,201 BTC, reflecting an addition of 354 BTC gained from inscriptions since late July. During that time, the number of inscriptions had just surpassed 18.67 million, a number which has now more than doubled.

The increased activity has caused a significant backlog in the Bitcoin network, with 166,000 transactions pending as of block height 815,457. Meanwhile, network fees for securing block space range from $0.29 for lower priority to $1.86 for high priority transactions. This indicator of growing demand for Ordinal inscriptions highlights both the network’s capability and the escalating competition for transaction space on the blockchain.