The average Bitcoin transaction fee is approaching $20

in #bitcoin7 years ago

The battle between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash that blew up with a vengeance a couple days ago is having an impact on more than just the price of the coins.

With hashing power now moving back and forth between the coins we're seeing Bitcoin's mempool (or number of pending transactions) at levels that are creating transaction fees approaching $20 if you want to see the transaction occur in a reasonable time frame.

Bitcoin Transaction Fee Chart


Popular crypto wallet, Exodus, even issued a warning to it's users during the peak of the craziness over the weekend that fees were ranging from $25 up to $100.

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It's been interesting to watch how the miners have moved between the coins. The majority of the overall hashrate moved over to Bitcoin Cash briefly as the major push and pump occurred over the weekend but it has now dropped significantly back down to it's prior levels as it the majority of the hashrate has moved back to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash Hashrate Graph

We should start to see these fees come back down as the transactions clear out now that the majority of the hashrate is back on Bitcoin, if it stays at the current rate that is. There's definitely a lot to learn from this weekend though. Mainly it's clear to see how vulnerable Bitcoin is when hashrate starts dropping and the battle with Bitcoin Cash is far from over.

I think one thing we can all agree on though is that these kind of transaction fees are definitely not good for the long term health of Bitcoin.



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Awesome information! Thanks for sharing.
Do u think bitcoin cash will eventually take over bitcoin? Just wondering cuz u seem to have some knowledge about this stuff :)

I think it has a chance, technically it is the real bitcoin, but it has a lot of hurdles to overcome.

The thing is, Bitcoin has the institutional support. Every single exchange prices their trading pairs in Bitcoin. That isn't an easy thing to usurp. You're not going to see exchanges randomly start switching their whole core over to Bitcoin Cash unless something drastic happens. By drastic, I'm talking a complete loss of hash power that brings Bitcoin transactions to a stand still.

Ultimately, Bitcoin Cash is doing a great job of bringing to light the flaws that could very well bring Bitcoin down. Mainly, the weakness of the way it's governed, that high transaction fees and slow transaction speeds. Bitcoin Cash is better in a couple of these regards but if those flaws are what really end up bringing Bitcoin down then people are going to realize that there are far better coins than either to deliver what the market needs.

Thanks for that awesome breakdown! I really appreciate it.. i agree it would be incredibly hard to usurp but hypethetically wont the users decide in the end? i think bitcoin cash has better features, but like u said some of these other alt coins are so much better.. i have been considering buying bitcoin for months now but can never bring myself to do it, i always end up buying more alt coins..... even tho they have been taking a beating for what seems like forever in crypto time, i still believe in them..

Hypothetically, yes, the users will decide, but being that it created the space and has the oldest, most secure blockchain means that it's most entrenched with it's branding and how the space functions. Ultimately I don't think that goes on forever, but it's going to take getting a majority of the populace using cryptos and thus taking the time to learn and understand them before we see that move away from Bitcoin.

Right now, we're lucky if people have even heard of Bitcoin let alone any kind of alt. It just isn't in the mainstream consious yet. For those of us that do know and have exposure to cryptos we can see all the reasons other coins are more valuable but we still know Bitcoin is where it's at because it's the flagship and entry point for anyone looking at the space.

I hold a stash of Bitcoin for now because I still think it has a long way to run still before the turning point, and it's likely it will resolve all of it's current issues before a tipping point anyway, but I also have my stash of alts too because there are some damn good opportunities out there to grab onto that may change your life in the next 5-10 years.

Dont get me wrong, i believe in bitcoin maybe forever, but i see it ultimately turning into something more of a store of value than anything else. Because these other coins were designed for their specific functionality in the space they operate, whereas bitcoin isn't all that versitile outside of a currency, as far as i know atleast.
I just see bigger gains coming for some of these alts then i see for bitcoin, and thats why i haven't bought bitcoin yet.

Yeah, it's a fun time to speculate that's for sure. What are some of your favorite alts?

Well ive been all over the place, buying the dips and selling the peaks but my favorite cryptos ive been really stocking up on with these low prices are omg, lisk, tenx and nav coin.. i really like litecoin too, that was my first buy and ive always held on to some :)

They got me for for $12.50 in fees the other day. So mad.

Ouch. That'd piss me off too! It's somewhat tolerable if you're moving thousands of dollars around, but not in the ballpark of sane if you're using it for small amounts.

$162.50 to move $150... not a good deal.. I Should have used LTC

Thank you, I might've chosen a different name for my challenge had I known this one already existed. Appreciate the shout out!

Oh my. I didn't even catch that! I joined @qurator and stumbled upon @stsl because of that, and when I saw this post my first thought was you ;)

Great information! Thank you for sharing! Have a great day🙂

Thank you for good informations bro. Upvoted

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