Main navigation

Bitcoin (BTC) Transaction Fees Continue Declining Despite Trading Volumes Being on the Rise

Tue, 02/19/2019 - 12:00
article image
Alex Dovbnya
Why are Bitcoin transaction volumes going through the roof while transaction fees continue plunging?
Bitcoin (BTC) Transaction Fees Continue Declining Despite Trading Volumes Being on the Rise
Cover image via U.Today
Read U.TODAY on
Google News
Contents

A new DataLight report shows that the average commission paid for executing Bitcoin transactions has fallen to $0.244 as of Feb. 16. In stark contrast to that, the transaction volume has actually substantially increased.

Related
Bitcoin Fees Greatly Depend on Your Time Zone, New Study Shows

No correlation?

Bitcoin fees reached their peak on Dec. 23, 2017, with more than 250,000 transactions being stuck in the mempool. The average transaction fee reached $54.901.  

After that, Bitcoin trading fees fell as abruptly as the price of the coin itself. On Feb. 7, it reached a brand-new low of $0.161 (a world of difference compared to $4.588 a year ago).     

Transaction volumes are skyrocketing   

Meanwhile, the transaction volume has reached its highest peak in two years, almost matching December’s bull run. This is not surprising since major cryptocurrency exchanges saw their volumes spiking in 2018. However, as U.Today reported earlier, their volumes dipped substantially in 2019.     

That can be attributed to the rise in the Blockchain efficiency — as blocks are getting fuller, there is no incentive to pay miners higher fees. The low demand for new blocks results in underwhelming mining rewards.

article image
About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.