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Bitcoin and Ethereum Fee Drop: The Perfect Time for Cost-Effective Transactions

Although both bitcoin and ethereum have been cruising at lower prices compared to earlier this year, there’s been a silver lining: transaction fees on these leading blockchains have significantly decreased. With costs now sitting at notable lows, it could be the perfect moment to fine-tune transaction expenses for certain activities or even gather unspent transaction outputs for better efficiency.

Although both bitcoin and ethereum have been cruising at lower prices compared to earlier this year, there’s been a silver lining: transaction fees on these leading blockchains have significantly decreased. With costs now sitting at notable lows, it could be the perfect moment to fine-tune transaction expenses for certain activities or even gather unspent transaction outputs for better efficiency.

As of now, transferring funds on the Bitcoin blockchain costs around 0.000016 BTC on average, or approximately $0.92, based on data from bitinfocharts.com. Meanwhile, mempool.space reports that on Sept. 13, 2024, a high-priority transfer fee clocks in at 3 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB), translating to just $0.24. But, if BTC prices rise and network activity intensifies, moving your funds could become a lot pricier.

With fees currently low, it’s a prime opportunity to optimize your unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). Bitcoin fees are based on the amount of data transmitted over the network, and more UTXOs mean more data, which results in higher fees. Consolidating your funds now, while the fees are minimal, can save you a bundle in the future. Reduced BTC fees are fantastic for handling a wide range of everyday transactions. Whether you’re sending payments, consolidating wallets, or simply moving funds to a platform.

Ethereum, however, doesn’t use a UTXO model, so consolidation isn’t necessary. Still, low-fee periods are the perfect times for handling other types of transactions, like moving ether, swapping or transferring ERC20 tokens, completing a non-fungible token (NFT) sale, or bridging funds. When fees drop, the Ethereum network becomes a playground for transactions that would otherwise cost much more during busy periods and sometimes even fail.

Ethereum’s fees, just like Bitcoin’s, are lower than they’ve been in months. Currently, the average onchain fee for Ethereum sits at 0.00069 ETH, or roughly $1.63. Etherscan shows that a high-priority transaction on Ethereum costs just 2.285 gwei—sometimes dipping below 1 gwei—which equals about $0.10 to simply move ether. All things considered, with fees this low on the two leading blockchains, there’s never been a better time to get more done for less.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-and-ethereum-fee-drop-the-perfect-time-for-cost-effective-transactions/