2 min read
Bitcoin is dubbed to be the king of cryptocurrencies, and it deserves such a name. When Bitcoin was blooming last year with skyrocketing price around $18,000, the transaction fees were also high around $34. This high transaction fee compelled some leading developers, miners, and investors to invent a whole new version of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash.
Bitcoin is going through ups and downs since we entered 2018 and speculations were high that the transaction fee will further grow. But on the contrary, Bitcoin transaction fees went down; even low than Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin has seen a reduction in its fees to over 90%, comparing to its peak point, and has reached a low of $0.85 cents (at the time of writing).
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The major reason for this low transaction fee is fewer transactions done by people these days. Because Bitcoin is a software that requires thousands of computers that run it to stay in sync. To easily continue this process, there’s a limit on how much data the network can process at intervals, and users need to pay more to get their transactions process, at times of congestion.
This means that there is a certain possibility that Bitcoin fees will rise again. A lot depends on what happens to Bitcoin’s price in the coming months. If Bitcoin’s price reaches new highs, we’re likely to see fees hit new highs as well. On the other hand, if the Bitcoin bubble continues to deflate, fees are likely to remain reasonable. In that sense, a falling Bitcoin price could be a blessing in disguise.
Meanwhile, investing in Bitcoin is certainly not risk-free, as its price goes up and down instantly. Last year, 2 big exchanges crashed and their websites got hacked which resulted in the loss of millions in cryptocurrency. The statements by tech leaders and opinions of mainstream media outlets also have a deep impact on the highly volatile prices of cryptocurrencies.
