Bitcoin and Ethereum Users Complain About Rising ‘Ridiculous’ Fees

While Bitcoin (BTC) fees keep rising, Ethereum (ETH) fees are also getting more expensive.

Bitcoin fees have been rising following the third halving. On May 12, the average transaction fee reached USD 2.79, the highest in ten months, jumping further to USD 5.16 on May 14. Bitinfocharts.com shows the 7-day moving average jumping since May 12’s USD 2.493 to USD 3.088 two days later.

In the same period, the median transaction fee climbed 55% – from 1.797 to 2.781. The 7-day moving average shows an increase of 25% to USD 1.814. On April 1, it stood at USD 0.366 and was 395% higher on May 14.

Median transaction fee, USD, 7-day simple moving average

“This is ridiculous,” commented Redditor ‘miciomacho’. “[Bitcoin] just doesn’t scale. 72 blocks in mempool & a median fee of [USD] 3.19 on the second block.” They added that this kind of fee wasn’t intentional by design, but rather a result of an overcrowded mempool, where all the valid transactions wait to be confirmed by the Bitcoin network. “By the way, if the mempool keeps being overcrowded the fees will keep rising because people just want priority over others to be confirmed,” the poster said.

The actual cost of a transaction on the Bitcoin network is about USD 35, argues ‘harfatum’, saying that most of it is subsidized by block rewards, “but as that diminishes the users will be forced to carry greater amounts of that burden.” Still, some people are willing to pay higher fees. ‘mysteelersrock82’ believes this is a “small price you pay for having a truly decentralized network that is also the most secure network on the planet.”

Meanwhile, “Ethereum transaction fees are ridiculous as well,” says says ‘phillipsjk’. Redditor ‘ma6ic’ also noted the crowded transactions, arguing that “if the upward trajectory continues and fomo [fear of missing out] sets in, both networks are going to chug to a halt.”

Ethereum median fees have also increased in double digits this month. The 7-day moving average is up by 82%, to USD 0.153 on May 14. Since April 1, it jumped by 337%.

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Learn more:
Bitcoin Fees Rising, Surprising Even Industry Insiders
How to Use Bitcoin SegWit Transactions: a Guide