Transaction Cost Problem

[DZRCoins]

The block is too small to cover a lot of transactions but still more and more transactions with higher fees goes in the blockchain = increase of regular speed for fees.
there is a thing called the lightning network which is something that may speed up the transaction speed and lower the fees I think they are using smart contract.

Bitcoin is not really for small transactions at this moment. i think that as time goes the higher and higher fee.

Could someone point me to a good document with explanation how will lightning network work? I've read some official docs, but looks like it's a deep alfa project and we won't have it soon. Did I miss something?

[1715561415]

1715561415

[malikusama]

Bitcoin network is now congested due the high demand of bitcoin this year and especially in these past two months. DannyHamilton is straight to the point about this congestion, this is totally realistic and common thing that whenever the demand is increased too high while the resources are still on the same level (limited) then the price tends to increase rapidly.

[jnano]

This is a great misconception about Bitcoin, that a lot of people are suffering. I think this should be a sticky here and on bitcoin.org, also because I am tired to explain this over and over again.

But have you seen anywhere hard data on the cost of using "tangible money"? I can't completely rule it out, but neither am I convinced it's true.
And again, Bitcoin is currently more comparable to credit card companies than physical money.

[AGD]

This is a great misconception about Bitcoin, that a lot of people are suffering. I think this should be a sticky here and on bitcoin.org, also because I am tired to explain this over and over again.

But have you seen anywhere hard data on the cost of using "tangible money"? I can't completely rule it out, but neither am I convinced it's true.
And again, Bitcoin is currently more comparable to credit card companies than physical money.

Your comparsion is pretty weak. Creditcard Companies are centralized and Bitcoin is decentralized. Your "tangible money" is guaranteed to lose value over time and Bitcoin will most likely raise in value, because of the demand for a secure, personal and decentralized store of value.
As Danny Hamilton explained, the current world wide banking system is wasting A LOT more energy, than the Bitcoin network. If you don't believe it, start calculating.

[jnano]

You have to choose what to compare to.

DannyHamilton's comparison to physical money (vaults, armored cars, production costs...) isn't a good match either. The scope of traditional money and its related services and uses is much larger than Bitcoin. I would still be interested to know the related costs, but calculating that is far from trivial.

[DannyHamilton]

I would still be interested to know the related costs, but calculating that is far from trivial.

Which is why trivial calculations that claim Bitcoin is wasteful, or that try to assign a "cost" to processing bitcoin transactions, can be so frustrating.

[fortuneogo]

Bitcoin unlike physical cash is decentralized so over time it adds more value unlike same amount of cash just put away without investing it. But the cost of transaction should be be cut down based on value of the transaction.

[jnano]

Which is why trivial calculations that claim Bitcoin is wasteful, or that try to assign a "cost" to processing bitcoin transactions, can be so frustrating.

Because calculating the running costs of Bitcoin is relatively trivial, even if there's no known data to compare it against, still, instinctively, in absolute terms it seems wasteful. I think this notion is going to remain until someone does an energy/resource consumption analysis on the "competitors", and that analysis ends up finding they are equivalent or worse.

[Transparency]

The current satoshis needed per byte to make a normal transaction successful is around 293 which give around $10 for an average transaction.
The high fee is an issue which everybody is pissed of. Bitcoin is not meant for any micro payments at the moment. Although it will be done in the future with the help of the lightning network it is just a waste of money to spend high fees on micro transactions. It is better to avoid small transactions and just hold the BTC until the lightning network is fully established. The development is going with a successful testing recently. I think people should stand together and join hands towards the development of BTC. Why should just a small group of people do all the hardwork and let the other enjoy it's benefits.

Is there any ETA to this on when the lightning network implement this fast confirmation.