Bitcoin (BTC) network fees reached an all-time high on 21 April which was just under $60 USD average per transaction. These have now subsided close to the current average of around $20 USD.
During the week of 21 April the Bitcoin hashrate drop was one of the major reasons the transaction price shot up. Since then, transaction prices have been going back to the normal as backlogged transactions have been completed and the hashpower restored.
Different Perspectives on Fees
There are some supporters of higher fees, they believe that an increase in fees will also increase the amount of individuals/companies that want to mine Bitcoin which is essentially a good thing for decentralisation.
Sustained high fees are expected and necessary to prevent denial of service (spam) attacks that can threaten decentralization and therefore censorship resistance. Sustained high fees will secure the Bitcoin network long term. Fees are designed to pump forever. Embrace them.
Matt Odell, Co-Founder of CoinPrices.io [source]
The opposition argues that higher fees can threaten centralisation by scaring people away because they can’t afford the fees. The fewer people adopt Bitcoin the less need there will be to run nodes to process many transactions. This could also push users toward alternative blockchains which cater more to everyday users.
But now that consumer hardware for mining is becoming more popular there is an opportunity for individuals and businesses to play a part in the network.
For reference, other coins have different network fees:
Read more about this in a recent test transferring $100 AUD using different cryptocurrencies to discover the actual fees.
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