Why does it cost me a dollar to send 1 Bitcoin?

[BittBurger]

Disclaimer:  Failed every math class I ever took.  Be gentle.

When I tried to send 0.77 BTC from my QT wallet to my online wallet today, I was told I had to pay a 0.001 fee.  (it was either that or 0.01)

That's nearly $0.83 USD now that BTC is around $830. (Even if im completely doing my math wrong and its $0.08 USD that's still ridiculous).  If I had sent a whole Bitcoin I assume I would be pushing $1.00.

1)  I believe this is a leftover price from the early days, when 0.001 was nearly nothing.  Shouldn't that fee be getting progressively smaller?

2)  I thought Bitcoin was supposed to be "virtually" free?  At the very least, why am I paying more than CHASE charges me to transfer to myself (completely free).  I realize the blockchain doesn't know both addresses are me, but hey, that's not my fault.  

[TheNexusProtocol]

You are paying to support the bitcoin network.

[bythesea]

So you don't wanna pay anything? I you don't like it, then don't use BTC... Oh w8 you wanna make money but you dont wanna pay anything in process...

[Maidak]

You could use coinbase to save your $1 in transaction fees.

[dancupid]

Settings-options  then fill in the amount you want to pay.

The standard fee is 0.0001  (about 8c) - but you can choose to pay 0btc fee. Try a different wallet.

I have a feeling bitcoinqt won't let you send with a zero fee if it is require by the protocol for your transaction (read http://bitcoinfees.com/ to see how it is calculated), but a 0.77 bitcoin transaction would almost certainly go through with zero fee unless it's made up of dust, or new coins.

[guybrushthreepwood]

You don't have to pay the fee do you? And $1 to send nearly $800 doesn't seem too bad to me.

[cryptozaurus]

As you thought, the transaction fees are getting higher when the BTC price climb. The core developpers are working on this matter:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1w34ov/4_new_bitcoin_features_revealed_by_core_developer/

[b!z]

As you thought, the transaction fees are getting higher when the BTC price climb. The core developpers are working on this matter:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1w34ov/4_new_bitcoin_features_revealed_by_core_developer/

Excellent news. I see Bitcoin advertised as having "near zero" fees while fees can be quite expensive.

[Bytas]

So you don't wanna pay anything? I you don't like it, then don't use BTC... Oh w8 you wanna make money but you dont wanna pay anything in process...

That's by far the worst possible reaction to his concern dear Sir.
Trying to defend a 1 dollar fee in a system that profiles itself as being almost free is the most hypocritical thing i've seen in a while.

At least some other people from the community have been less negative and explained the OP in a nice manner how he could get lower cost by switching to a recent client, instead of being a general douche bag, and saying he should stop using bitcoin.

[Meuh6879]

Bitcoin-QT (software) to Android Bitcoin wallet (software) : 0,0001 to 0,0002 BTC of fee MAX !




your online wallet ... is the problem (it's a commercial service).
when i transfer from virwox to my bitcoin-QT, the fee is 0,002 BTC.

[jongameson]

if u wait a certain time (i think 6 months) for them to "mature", you don't have to pay any transaction fees

[BittBurger]

As you thought, the transaction fees are getting higher when the BTC price climb. The core developpers are working on this matter:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1w34ov/4_new_bitcoin_features_revealed_by_core_developer/

Thank you for an intelligent response.

You don't have to pay the fee do you? And $1 to send nearly $800 doesn't seem too bad to me.

Yes.  It forces me to pay the fee when I try to send.  I guess the coins are "new"  <--- nice arbitrary rule? 

If Bitcoin has any hope of being used for daily commerce this ridiculous "must be 6 months old" rule needs to be eliminated as well.

And either way, a dollar is fucking ridiculous for sending 1 bitcoin.  

Trying to defend a 1 dollar fee in a system that profiles itself as being almost free is the most hypocritical thing i've seen in a while.

What he said ^^^^^^

So you don't wanna pay anything? I you don't like it, then don't use BTC... Oh w8 you wanna make money but you dont wanna pay anything in process...

Correct.  I want to do it 100% free of charge.  Like I can through my Bank:  That entity which Bitcoin is supposed to be so much better than, because it brings us lower cost/free transactions.

With the evil, inferior, (soon to be destroyed by Bitcoin?) CHASE bank, I can transfer an unlimited dollar amount between my own bank accounts for free.

I can also now send up to $5000 to anyone else in the world with a CHASE bank account, 100% free of charge, instantly. I pay one of my vendors this way monthly.  We dumped Paypal because of it.

So why do I have to pay to transfer money to myself (or anyone else on the Bitcoin Network)?  

I know.  The miners need to get paid.  Hmm .....

We're already inferior to Chase bank.  How does that make us feel?

Even if the core dev team "works to lower it" as the price of BTC rises, its still free through my bank.  Thus the point of this thread.

-B-

[keithers]

It is a super tiny fee that is paid to the miners for their work in veryifying your transaction. I believe you can do it for no fee, but then there is no incentive to the miner, and therefore your transaction can take a super long time. From what I have seen, people who send with no fees are frequently back on this forum saying "the money i sent never arrived and it has been like 10 hours... Etc"

Ultimately you are supporting the community and its growth. Go take $20 out of an atm and see how much you are charged. Typically you are charged $2-$3 by the atm company itself, and then again by your own bank for using an outside network.  This price is doubled if you are at a strip club or casino lol.

Overall the fee is so tiny, that you shouldnt even really notice or worry about it

[Holliday]

I guess the coins are "new"  <--- nice arbitrary rule?  

It isn't arbitrary, it's designed to prevent tiny spam transactions that would fill up blocks and prevent any other transactions from being included.

If you know of better ways to prevent malicious spam transactions while keeping the fees very low for everyone else, please contact the devs.

Depending on your use case, perhaps you could have swept the private key into the new wallet instead of broadcasting a transaction on the block chain.

Also, if the "online wallet" you've sent your coins to is a service which holds the private keys for you, you haven't made a transfer from "your account" to "your account". This transaction would be more like transferring money from bank A to bank B, which would typically involve fees.

Edit: I've been using Bitcoin for three years and have never needed to include a fee for a transaction, but I have anyway in order to support the network.

[sgk]

When I tried to send 0.77 BTC from my QT wallet to my online wallet today, I was told I had to pay a 0.001 fee.  (it was either that or 0.01)

You might be right here, but just checking. I am using Multibit wallet and it charges me 0.0001 BTC (not 0.001 BTC), so that's $0.08, not $0.8 at current rates.
But you mentioned Qt wallet and I have no idea about the charges on that one.

[_Miracle]

Settings-options  then fill in the amount you want to pay.

The standard fee is 0.0001  (about 8c) - but you can choose to pay 0btc fee. Try a different wallet.

I have a feeling bitcoinqt won't let you send with a zero fee if it is require by the protocol for your transaction (read http://bitcoinfees.com/ to see how it is calculated), but a 0.77 bitcoin transaction would almost certainly go through with zero fee unless it's made up of dust, or new coins.

I agree with this comment and changing wallets or making sure your settings are correct.



.000? have been the fees for most of my transfers

[Bitcoi2n2n]

What I always wondered about is where do these fees go to? Are they always going to the site that you have your wallet on? So theoretically there could be sites that require no fees to send BTC?

So none of these fees go to Satoshi himself?

[Gabi]

What I always wondered about is where do these fees go to? Are they always going to the site that you have your wallet on? So theoretically there could be sites that require no fees to send BTC?

It is not a secret, transaction fees go to the miners. Whoever find a block and put in that block your transaction get the fee 

[Tomatocage]

I've been experimenting with .0002 Tx fees and they work just fine.

[Abdussamad]

As you thought, the transaction fees are getting higher when the BTC price climb. The core developpers are working on this matter:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1w34ov/4_new_bitcoin_features_revealed_by_core_developer/

Thank you for an intelligent response.

You don't have to pay the fee do you? And $1 to send nearly $800 doesn't seem too bad to me.

Yes.  It forces me to pay the fee when I try to send.  I guess the coins are "new"  <--- nice arbitrary rule? 

If Bitcoin has any hope of being used for daily commerce this ridiculous "must be 6 months old" rule needs to be eliminated as well.

1 day not six months. 24 hours for a fee-less 1 bitcoin transaction. More for a smaller transaction.

And either way, a dollar is fucking ridiculous for sending 1 bitcoin.  

Is it a dollar? Or 8 cents. How about you clarify what you are talking about first? Tell us the fee in bitcoins.

And FYI the fee does not increase based on the amount of the transaction. It is based on the size of the transaction in bytes.

Correct.  I want to do it 100% free of charge.  Like I can through my Bank:  That entity which Bitcoin is supposed to be so much better than, because it brings us lower cost/free transactions.

With the evil, inferior, (soon to be destroyed by Bitcoin?) CHASE bank, I can transfer an unlimited dollar amount between my own bank accounts for free.

I can also now send up to $5000 to anyone else in the world with a CHASE bank account, 100% free of charge, instantly. I pay one of my vendors this way monthly.  We dumped Paypal because of it.

LOL that's totally untrue. US only may be free but not worldwide. SWIFT wires are extremely costly and so is western union. CHASE or whatever does NOT have its own system for global money transfer despite whatever marketing told you. It uses SWIFT like everyone else. If you are not paying a fee then your vendor is and he's transferring that cost on to you in what he's charging you. No one is getting a free lunch.

Another thing you should be aware of your bank is transferring debt. Bitcoin is asset based. As long as you control the private key you own the coins regardless of what anyone else does.