Average confirmation times in Bitcoin is now around 2 hours.
To get your payment processed without delays you have to pay around 200 satoshi per byte. That's 50 000 satoshi (0.6 dollar) for an average transaction of ~250 byte.
At the same time, the Bitcoin price is now at an all time high.
What gives?
As the delays in transactions and transaction costs are increasing, one would at face value expect that Bitcoin as a currency and payment service decrease in value. However, there is another phenomena that is directly related to the delay in transactions and increased transaction costs, but is theoretically expected to increase the total marketcap. This is the phenomena of Bitcoin velocity.
Bitcoin Velocity
Monetary velocity is the measure of how fast a currency is changing hands. In traditional economic theory, when velocity goes down, the available supply shrinks, and thus each monetary unit is worth more.
Bitcoin velocity is thus how fast Bitcoins are passing from one hodler to the next. If Bitcoin transaction fees are high one would expect Bitcoin velocity to go down. This in turn would mean that the value of each Bitcoin goes up.
Think of it like this: If half of all Bitcoins were suddenly stuck as unconfirmed transactions, there would be less Bitcoins to go around, and each Bitcoin would be worth more. The same is happening now at a much smaller scale.
Do Not Conclude
It is tempting to conclude that Bitcoin price will rise further if velocity goes further down. But we have to keep in mind the negative effect this has on Bitcoin's reputation. The more unconfirmed transactions, the more likely it is that media will pick it up and massive Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) can spread quickly.
There are many other factors that go into the Bitcoin price, so don't take this as investment advice. Either way it seems to me Bitcoin is getting itself into an unstable position. Only time will tell what happens next. If you want to get involved with Bitcoin politics and what you can do to reduce Bitcoin fees, check out Roger Ver's comments in this post.