New data from Bitinforcharts suggests that the transaction fees on the Bitcoin network have averaged at 71 cents, marking a massive drop from $6.65 from the previous month.
Bitcoin transactions are cheaper
Transaction fees on the Bitcoin network have dropped to fresh lows. New info from Bitinfocharts shows that the cost of sending crypto on the network has now fallen to $0.711. The fees spiked before the May 11 halving and reached as high as $6.65 on May 20.
It was the highest average transaction fee on the network since July 2018. The fees went up as experts predicted after the halving but have been going down consistently since then. In just 25 days, the fees have dropped by 89.3%. Fees were this low in April 2020 when the average cost of the transaction was $0.66.
Why do transaction fees increase?
In general, transaction fees go up when the network is undergoing heavy traffic. On a busy network, users have to compete with each other to get their transactions validated more quickly on the network. As a result, they pay more fees to the miners because of which the network fees are higher. In December 2017, when the network was the busiest during the Bitcoin bubble, the transaction fee reached $55.
People can still choose to pay a lower fee if they don’t want to pay $0.71 for their transactions. However, in this case, their transactions will not be prioritized and higher-paying transactions will be added to the network first. By choosing a fee higher than this, you may get your transaction being accepted quicker. Bitcoin users also have the choice of not paying any transaction fee at all. However, this could mean delays in transaction acceptance. Sometimes, miners do not accept these transactions. The flexible payment structure ensures that everyone can choose what they want to pay for a transaction instead of paying a flat fee.
