Every time you make a transaction on any blockchain including Bitcoin you have to pay a set amount of cryptocurrency for the transaction to go through. In Bitcoin it’s a small amount of Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Such parameters like the size of the transaction or network congestion affect the fee amount. Let’s explore what exactly you pay for when you interact with the Bitcoin blockchain?

What is the Bitcoin Transaction Fee?

The origin of fees on Bitcoin stems from protecting the network from overloading, when many users want to send transactions simultaneously. Right now, the Bitcoin fee is mostly used to pay validators or miners for their work, adding transactions to the block. 

The fee amount can vary and many crypto wallets add a function of Bitcoin fee customization in the transaction settings.

Why can the Bitcoin Fee Amount Change?

As we have already stated, any Bitcoin transaction includes a small fee, which is transferred to Bitcoin blockchain validators. If you want validators or miners to add your transaction to the nearest block, which means less waiting time, then you attach higher fees to the transaction. If you are not in a hurry, and can wait longer for the transaction to be written into the block and be added to the Bitcoin blockchain, then you can provide a lower fee and save money. Anyway, try not to go below the average sum when you set up the amount for a transaction fee. If the fee is too low, then the transaction might get stuck in the system for hours if not days. 

Even if such a scenario happens, don’t worry. Eventually, a transaction with very small fees after a long waiting time, can be either approved or canceled. If the transaction is canceled it means that the sum you want to send will get back to your crypto wallet account.

Also, there is an opportunity to check the status of your Bitcoin transaction. This is possible if you know your transaction ID. Provide your transaction ID here.

How Bitcoin fees are calculated?

Bitcoin fees are measured in satoshis/bytes. A satoshi is the smallest unit of a Bitcoin. One satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC (Bitcoin). The size of the transaction is measured in bytes. The more complicated a transaction is, the more bytes it involves, that’s why it will be more expensive. On average, the standard transaction size is around 230 bytes, which means that the fee for such a transaction will fluctuate from 1,400-2,700 satoshi. 

As an example, in August 2022, the average Bitcoin transaction fee was around $1 which is 0.000044 BTC, now, in March 2024, it is around $8 dollars, which is 0.00011 BTC. In April, 2021, the transaction peak rose over $60 per transaction.

Conclusion

Every action on Bitcoin blockchain requires fees. They are charged based on the size of the transaction and how quickly you would like it to be added to the Bitcoin blockchain. Also, there are various service fees, if you interact with Bitcoin cryptocurrency through cryptocurrency exchanges or any other service providers. Each of these services charge you extra fees for handling your transaction.

The Spatium crypto wallet team is building a fee-saving ecosystem around Bitcoin, which is called to minimize the transaction fees and maximize your profit.

Spatium Feeless Bitcoin crypto wallet is a self-custodial wallet powered by MPC technology. It’s secure and easy to operate. Spatium wallet is a perfect match for new users who would like to join web3 and reap its benefits as soon as possible. Also, crypto-savvies will definitely find it convenient and cost-efficient due to our Feeless feature allowing users to pay network fees in the crypto they send, not in the native crypto of the blockchain (currently available for USDC on Ethereum. More chains and tokens will be added soon). 

Spatium Bitcoin MPC wallet is free to download. It’s available on Android and iOS devices.

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