Mid-2024–Now: Blocks are packed but fees -97% from peaks.

My take: It’s all about urgency—or lack thereof. In Bitcoin, “urgency” hits when high-time-preference users (think retail rushing payments) bid up fees. But now? Low time preference rules: Big players like exchanges batch their transactions and wait through congestion, no rush.

Low fees? Miners don’t seem to care—hashrate’s still climbing (~1,066 EH/s, near ATH).