Are Bitcoin's fees overpriced?

[Twentyonepaylots]

It only is overpriced because it is primarily anchored to USDT, and so of course the denominations are justified yet their conversions to fiat wouldn't be. Few years ago when bitcoins were still dirt cheap the transaction fees are close to none, and we only felt the sting of then's limited technology now that bitcoin's coming up the thousands.

To decide whether the transaction fee is high or not, first Bitcoin needs to be defined properly. If you consider Bitcoin as a currency, then the current fee levels are definitely way too high. None of the currencies have a fee of $5 or $10 per transaction. On the other hand, if you consider Bitcoin as an investment asset, then the fee is justified. Most of the mutual funds charge way more than this amount as the entry fee or exit fee (even the annual maintenance fee is around 1%).

Exactly what I have in mind. It is justifiable on one end of the spectrum and completely crazy on the other. Been hoping for the Lightning Network for years now and I still am hopeful that it will be available for the people to make the most out of.

[cabron]

For me personally, Bitcoin fees haven't been overpriced...
when the price of Bitcoin / USD rises, it seems that the Bitcoin fee goes up, actually, it doesn't go up, it's just that the value of Bitcoin has increased. when the value of Bitcoin reaches $ 1 million we will definitely see fees that are worth hundreds of dollars.

While its also true that the value of BTC that goes up which is the reason why we see the fees are also high, the USD value of the fee will make users feel the neccesity to try other currency in withdrawing such as XRP for cheaper fees of transaction.  Believe it or not paying $5 is huge for someone who is from the 3rd world country.

[Vageta420]

Prices for BTC transaction are the same. it's just BTC to fiat price has risen.

[so98nn]

Broadcasting transaction over blockchain for 10-15 bucks when your transaction is just worth 20-25 bucks or even it’s costly if I’m just sending 100 bucks and need to pay above cost for it.

I have seen people suggesting we have alternative like ether, light coin etc which has lowest fees and fastest speed of transaction as compared to bitcoin.

BUT, the thing is why the heck I would switch to any other coin if I don’t like it. My whole and sole purpose is to use only bitcoin in the first place so if there is any solution that needs to be within bitcoin house only.

[Sithara007]

Broadcasting transaction over blockchain for 10-15 bucks when your transaction is just worth 20-25 bucks or even it’s costly if I’m just sending 100 bucks and need to pay above cost for it.

I have seen people suggesting we have alternative like ether, light coin etc which has lowest fees and fastest speed of transaction as compared to bitcoin.

BUT, the thing is why the heck I would switch to any other coin if I don’t like it. My whole and sole purpose is to use only bitcoin in the first place so if there is any solution that needs to be within bitcoin house only.

Converting your coins to ETH or LTC just for making the payment, and then converting them back to BTC will prove even more costly. Other options include using the Lightning Network for transactions, where the fee is much lower. If you are not using the Lightning, then expect the transaction fee to go up significantly in the future. The fee in terms of BTC will stay stable. But the USD worth will go up, as the exchange rate increases.

[Terrell]

Bitcoin fees are currently very expensive, but this will likely get better in a few months. But even right now, by choosing the right wallet and making sure you use the optimal fee, you'll do a lot better than just paying whichever fee you're offered.

[thesmallgod]

One of the major drawback in bitcoin blockchain is the proof of work consensus that was adopted by satoshi. I doubt he thought of situation like this if not he could have find a solution to reduce the gas fee. However, I think bitcoin is over priced when you are withdrawing a little sum of bitcoin ( e.g $30) from your exchange wallet. This is because you would have to pay at least $15 which is the half of money you intend to withdraw from the exchange. Some exchange platform charge higher than this. Also it might not be over priced if you intend to withdraw from your wallet (both custodian and non custodian wallet) that give you freedom to select relatively the amount of fee depending on the speed. Wallet that support segwit might be considerably better. I have seen so many fork of bitcoin in a view to solve many of this major drawback. However for someone like me who always look for relatively cheap way to get my coin and convert to my local currencies, I always convert my bitcoin to TRX with relatively cheap withdrawal fee (1TRX) and make use of platform such as exchanging.cc to convert the TRX back to perfect money and withdraw the PM into my local bank

[Abiky]

Converting your coins to ETH or LTC just for making the payment, and then converting them back to BTC will prove even more costly. Other options include using the Lightning Network for transactions, where the fee is much lower. If you are not using the Lightning, then expect the transaction fee to go up significantly in the future. The fee in terms of BTC will stay stable. But the USD worth will go up, as the exchange rate increases.

That's certainly true, mate. Fee costs will largely depend on current Fiat price and network activity. Imagine if prices continued to soar, as well as, network activity. Bitcoin's fees would've been so high, that only rich people will be able to use it. That's where the Lightning Network comes in. You can easily exchange your BTC to LNBTC in order to enjoy instant transactions at a fraction of the cost. The main Bitcoin blockchain will be used for transferring large amounts of money (like a store of value), while the Lightning Network will be used for everyday payments (like digital cash). If the LN is too complicated for you, then there's always the option of using altcoins on top of BTC for everyday payments. Right now, Litecoin and Dogecoin are ten times cheaper and faster than Bitcoin itself. You can use them as digital cash, while you use Bitcoin as a store of value or long-term investment like Gold.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't worry about the high fees as there many options to choose from that will help you "tackle" this issue. As long Bitcoin remains decentralized, nothing else matters. Depending on your needs, will be the type of cryptocurrency to use for mainstream transactions. The higher the fees, the better it'll be for the Lightning Network and altcoins' level of adoption in the mainstream world. Scaling the main Bitcoin blockchain in order to reduce fees, is not the ideal choice for preserving decentralization/censorship-resistance. It's no wonder why the Lightning Network was created as a separate solution for providing instant, cheap transactions without sacrificing Bitcoin's level of security/reliability. Just my thoughts