Bitcoin’s transaction fees have fallen to a multi-year low
The outcome of a surprising — and mostly ideological — disagreement among Bitcoin node operators has resolved in favor of the average user. For the first time in years, the minimum bitcoin (BTC) transaction fee is just 1/10th of one satoshi per virtual byte (vByte). The decline is good news for everyday users of the network but is concerning for miners’ revenue and Bitcoin’s long-term security budget. Many blocks are now paying half the transaction fees versus their median level just one month ago. Moreover, a significant percentage of blocks within the past few days are only partially full, meaning that even these new, infinitesimal fee rates are not attracting enough transactions to fill up every block. 1/1 billionth of a bitcoin For most of Bitcoin Core’s existence, developers of this node software package defaulted to a minimum of one satoshi — equal to 1/100 millionth of a BTC — for transactions to gain entry into its popular memory poo...