Waiting in the mempool is like rush hour on the subway: when congestion hits, it’s really like squeezing into a packed train during peak hours. You think clicking send is the end of it, but actually you're taking a number behind a bunch of people; if someone ahead is willing to pay a little extra “tip,” they can cut in line. Your transaction can only wait, and while waiting, the price might slide away, or it might get confirmed at the worst possible moment for you, or even get stuck until it expires... To put it simply, on-chain isn’t “place an order = complete a transaction,” it’s “place an order = start queuing.” Recently, there’s been talk about increased taxes and tighter compliance in certain regions, making everyone more sensitive to deposits and withdrawals. The result is that when it gets crowded, chain reactions of anxiety happen more easily: the more afraid you are of missing out, the more you want to speed up, and the more expensive and crowded it becomes.