Make sure to avoid wasting BTC for too high fees – step by step guide (Electrum)

[Chilwell]

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With your permission I will like to translate this topic to my local board naija "pidgin language". Thank you.

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[1miau]

< >

With your permission I will like to translate this topic to my local board naija "pidgin language". Thank you.

In general, my guide is a bit outdated because Electrum has introduced new features but my advice is still somehow useful, so a translation of your language would make sense. I've also noted it, so you are first in line but I still need to get new pictures for my OP because Imgur doesn't work any longer.
I'll try to update all pictures next weekend and maybe you can post a reminder here for an official request next weekend if possible?
But your request is noted for now. 

[Chilwell]

< >

With your permission I will like to translate this topic to my local board naija "pidgin language". Thank you.

In general, my guide is a bit outdated because Electrum has introduced new features but my advice is still somehow useful, so a translation of your language would make sense. I've also noted it, so you are first in line but I still need to get new pictures for my OP because Imgur doesn't work any longer.
I'll try to update all pictures next weekend and maybe you can post a reminder here for an official request next weekend if possible?
But your request is noted for now. 

For the pictures l will try and get the pictures, let me handle it I will take it as a challenge for myself to research on it. I am ready to learn so let me fix the pictures. I want to know if I can be able to do it myself.

[1miau]

For the pictures l will try and get the pictures, let me handle it I will take it as a challenge for myself to research on it. I am ready to learn so let me fix the pictures. I want to know if I can be able to do it myself.

Wow, that would be nice. It's quite easy but a bit time consuming:
- quote my OP to get all Imgur links
- enter all Imgur links as URL
- Imgur will show you these pictures, you need to save them separately
- uploade all the pictures on TalkImg
- replace all previous link
- done  

For each picture.

So, if you could do that, it would be very nice. If you don't have time, I can do it somewhen later.  

[Chilwell]

For the pictures l will try and get the pictures, let me handle it I will take it as a challenge for myself to research on it. I am ready to learn so let me fix the pictures. I want to know if I can be able to do it myself.

Wow, that would be nice. It's quite easy but a bit time consuming:
- quote my OP to get all Imgur links
- enter all Imgur links as URL
- Imgur will show you these pictures, you need to save them separately
- uploade all the pictures on TalkImg
- replace all previous link
- done  

For each picture.

So, if you could do that, it would be very nice. If you don't have time, I can do it somewhen later.  

Thanks for guide, it not matter of time but it's something that I must know, so I will create time for it, because any time I come across this it shouldn't be new thing to me. Reserve a space for me.

[Learn Bitcoin]

So, if you could do that, it would be very nice. If you don't have time, I can do it somewhen later.  

When I saw the pictures were outdated, I started downloading them and gathering all of them, and I was about to write it. Now I see you are already aware and you wanted to fix it. Since I already downloaded and uploaded them to talkimg, I am posting them here so you can fix the OP in a few minutes. I have maintained the image serial. So, just replacing the link would be fine.

Code:

[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trZuq.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trC4G.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trQxD.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trMPf.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trmrZ.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/tr6O8.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trRC3.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trti9.jpeg[/img]
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trFwN.jpeg[/img]

[1miau]

So, if you could do that, it would be very nice. If you don't have time, I can do it somewhen later.  

When I saw the pictures were outdated, I started downloading them and gathering all of them, and I was about to write it. Now I see you are already aware and you wanted to fix it. Since I already downloaded and uploaded them to talkimg, I am posting them here so you can fix the OP in a few minutes.

+1
Your effort is very much appreciated, dear Learn Bitcoin.
These Imgur problems have really caused big damage to the forum.
I've added all these pictures accordingly to my OP and luckily, it's a readable topic again. 

[Learn Bitcoin]

+1
Your effort is very much appreciated, dear Learn Bitcoin.

Thank you very much, dear 1miau.

These Imgur problems have really caused big damage to the forum.

Yes. A lot of useful guides and tutorials were destroyed due to this Imgur issue. Unfortunately, some authors are not active anymore. A few weeks ago I reposted a topic regarding PGP just to fix the images because the author is not active anymore. Fortunately, we can still access the Imgur images by visiting the link. Even though Loyce already has a backup of around 500K images. Still it's good that we can still download the images from Imgur.

I've added all these pictures accordingly to my OP and luckily, it's a readable topic again.  

Nice. The thread looks good now.  

[Mia Chloe]

Translations:

Language	translated by	Title
___________________________	_____________________	_______________________________________________________________________
Nigeria (Naija)	Mia Chloe	xxx
Română (Romanian)	GazetaBitcoin	Evitarea plății unor comisioane BTC prea mari – ghid pas cu pas (Electrum)

Hi 1miau translation is now ready and available in my local board. Below is the link
Make sure say u no de waste BTC 4 fees way 2 high– step by step guide (Electrum)

[1miau]

Hi 1miau translation is now ready and available in my local board. Below is the link
Make sure say u no de waste BTC 4 fees way 2 high– step by step guide (Electrum)

Hello dear Mia Chloe 

Your translation is sucessfully approved and I've already added it to my list:

Language	translated by	Title
___________________________	_____________________	_______________________________________________________________________
Nigeria (Naija)	Mia Chloe	Make sure say u no de waste BTC 4 fees way 2 high– step by step guide (Electrum)

Many thanks for providing a translation for your local board members here.
And sorry for my delayed approval, I've been a bit busy. 

[Mia Chloe]

Here is an update to the whole thread for the latest  version of electrum. I embeded it in a code element so all you have to do is copy and paste it as a replacement in your op.

Code:

Every Bitcoin transaction needs a transaction fee, so it is very important to keep it as low as possible while to ensure that the transaction arrives at the receiver in a timely manner. The speed of a transaction depends on how much fees you pay for it. These fees are indicated in Satoshi per byte (sat / byte). The higher the fee in sat / byte, the higher the likelihood that your transaction will be included in the next block. The miners select the transactions always according to the amount of transaction fees (sat / byte). This is logical, because the miners receive not only the block reward but also the transaction fees for all transactions included in the mined block.

Not every wallet allows you to adjust the transaction fees manually and even those who can do it have often very simplified default settings (and are too expensive). A good wallet that allows you to set transaction fees manually is Electrum.

After you've switched the settings, it is important to find out the optimal amount of transaction fees, which can be done on reliable and accurate websites. But at first you need to enable customized fees. 

For this guide I'm using [url=https://electrum.org/#home]Electrum[/url] and the [url=https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#0,24h]Mempool by Jochen Hoenicke[/url]. 

So, you are only a few simple steps away from saving valuable Bitcoin:



[size=12pt][b]1.[/b] [/size]

First, open your wallet in Electrum. Now let's start by making your wallet easier to surf through by using shortcuts. Now click on view on the top right corner and click the shortcuts you want as shown in the image below. In this guide I selected all of them.

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kBc6I.jpeg[/img]


[hr]

[size=12pt][b]2.[/b] [/size]

Now on older versions of electrum, you can edit fees manually on Electrum through the tools and preferences menu ,however on the most recent version you can't. The only way to customize your fees is to actually attempt a transaction. Now all you have to do is fill in the required wallet address and amount then proceed to hit[b] pay[/b]. The window below should appear.

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kgVY8.jpeg[/img]


[hr]

[size=12pt][b]3.[/b] [/size]

Now you will notice that you can only adjust the fee via the slider which is not good enough. To be able to edit your fees manually click on the icon indicated in the image below.

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kBhjd.jpeg[/img]


[hr]

[size=12pt][b]4.[/b] [/size]

Now if you successfully completed step 3, the mini window bar below with checkable settings should appear.

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kBjFv.jpeg[/img]

[hr]

[size=12pt][b]5.[/b] [/size]

Now all you have to do is select the options you prefer for your transactions. However make sure to select [i]Edit fees manually [/i].

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kBroH.jpeg[/img]

[hr]

[size=12pt][b]6.[/b] [/size]

Now you will notice that in addition to the slider you now have two check boxes for editing fees as shown in the image below. With the the box highlighted in green below, you can edit fees by manually typing your desired fee rate in sat/byte. While the with the box highlighted in red you can fill in how much fees you want to pay in BTC or mBTC.

[img]https://www.talkimg.com/images/2024/01/30/kB1lg.jpeg[/img]

[hr]


[size=12pt][b]7.[/b] [/size]

Finally, you’ll have to find out how much fees are necessary for your transaction. You can find it out when you follow the next steps: 

There are several ways to determine the current transaction fee.
Of which  one way is to check ; [url=https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5478905.0]Mempool Observer Topic[/url] and observe possible fees by the [url=https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3601165] FeeBuddy [/url] bot.

Another nice way right now is to have a direct look to the Bitcoin Mempool. The Mempool is not a pool where the best memes are collected, but it represents the Bitcoin transactions waiting for confirmation. So a full Mempool means a high fee to send the transaction quickly, because many transactions are waiting for confirmation and compete to get included in the next block (only those having the highest transaction fees are selected for the next block until it’s full), while an almost empty Mempool is optimal to get your transaction confirmed paying only a low fee.

A good picture of the Mempool can be found on the page of Jochen Hoenicke: https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#0,24h. 

On the website you can choose different time intervals where you can analyze the Mempool. There are 3 different graphs in total:
- Unconfirmed Transaction Count (Mempool)
- Pending transaction fee in BTC 
- Mempool Size in MB 

For our consideration, the first and the last graph are suitable, while the last graph is more effective for our purpose, as it shows the actual size of the Mempool in MB. Because sometimes it happens that very large transactions (in bytes) are waiting in the Mempool, which are listed in the first graph as a single transaction but need a lot of size (because they have many inputs, for example or are many non-SegWit transactions).  
But after all, the graphs are very similar:


Unconfirmed Transaction Count (Mempool):


[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trmrZ.jpeg[/img]

[hr]


Mempool Size in MB: 

[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/tr6O8.jpeg[/img]



When you move your mouse across the graph, you can see which line represents how many satoshi per byte (sat / byte). This will allow you to estimate how much transaction fees you need to use for your transaction. You should also look back a bit in the past, how much MB of transactions was waiting the last few hours and whether the Mempool was generally emptied regularly. Then, it is reasonable to choose only a few satoshi per byte. Of course, it depends on how fast you have to send the transaction. If it is not necessary, it is advisable to wait or to send with a lower fee, which you think is realistic in the next few hours. 

The big unknown variable is when the next block will be found. In rare cases, it may take more than an hour between two consecutive blocks. Then, many transactions accumulate which have to be included in the next blocks and until then a lot of time can pass. In addition, it is possible that many new transactions enter the Mempool in the meantime and if they have a higher fee than yours, they are included into a new block instead of your ones. So, there is also a risk of choosing a low transaction fee. 


In addition, you should always check the transaction volume during past days. There are certain, frequently recurring patterns:

[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trRC3.jpeg[/img]


- After around 08:00 CET, the transaction volume tends to increase, around 23:00 the Mempool empties gradually (these times can vary, sometimes it’s starting earlier, sometimes later)
- Between 02:00 and 08:00 CET is the best time to send Bitcoin, when the Mempool is emptied regularly
- Monday is often the busiest time
- During the weekend the Mempool is usually much emptier than during the week, even at rush hour


Keep in mind that these patterns may change at any time, especially when BTC is increasing in price, many users doing transactions, so the fees will most likely also increase. 


[hr]

And finally, a short example: 

Currently it was 01:00 CET here (night) when I made the screenshot, the Mempool is showing the following picture (daily overview):
[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trti9.jpeg[/img]

It was Monday, so the transaction volume during the day was very high as expected. But currently, the Mempool is now almost empty again. It can be assumed that it will be empty several times tonight as in the previous week and it’s still the whole night left. 

If you look at the size of all transactions in the Mempool by moving your mouse across the graph, you will see that the last block wasn’t completely full (approx. 0.55 MB (normally more than 1 MB fits into a block)). At this point, I would choose 2 satoshi / byte and the probability will be very high that this transaction gets already included in the next block. 

And when you have a look at the graph you’ll also notice some transactions using a fee way too high… They had sent their transaction with more than 100 satoshi / byte, although a fee of only 2 satoshi / byte would have been enough to get the transaction into the next block. ^^

[img]https://talkimg.com/images/2023/11/07/trFwN.jpeg[/img]

[hr]

Translations: 

[table] 
[tr]
[td]Language[/td]
[td]translated by[/td]
[td]Title[/td]
[/tr]

[tr]
[td]___________________________[/td]
[td]_____________________[/td]
[td]_______________________________________________________________________[/td]
[/tr]

[tr]
[td]Nigeria (Naija)[/td]
[td]Mia Chloe[/td]
[td][url=https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5480133.0]Make sure say u no de waste BTC 4 fees way 2 high– step by step guide (Electrum)[/url][/td]
[/tr]


[tr]
[td]Română (Romanian)[/td]
[td]GazetaBitcoin[/td]
[td][url=https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5261906.0]Evitarea plății unor comisioane BTC prea mari – ghid pas cu pas (Electrum)[/url][/td]
[/tr]

[/table] 


Reserving new translations is currently not available.

[1miau]

Here is an update to the whole thread for the latest  version of electrum. I embeded it in a code element so all you have to do is copy and paste it as a replacement in your op.

Hello, dear Mia Chloe 

Your work is much appreciated, I've edited my OP accordingly by implementing your updated version, where all pictures are now included.
Only edits I've made are:
- in point 2. I've edited electrum to Electrum
- in point 2. I've edited the "," in "preferences menu ,however"
- in point 6. I've removed 1x "the" in "With the the box highlighted in green below"
- in point 6. I've removed 1x "the" in "While the with the box highlighted in red"

It's summarized very nicely and I believe readers will be able to follow all steps easily. 

[Mia Chloe]

I am glad the update was accepted.
Alright I will promptly provide updates for this thread anytime there is a necessary change in the Electrum interface when there is a newer version.
I will also see to updating my pigin translation based on the new Op as soon as possible.

[1miau]

Hello everyone. 
I would like to bump my topic since transaction fees have spiked a lot recently.
People were willing to pay up to 2000 sat/vbyte recently for transactions, which is beyond ridiculous and not helpful for anyone.
Even Jochen Hoenicke's website doesn't have any colours above that limit anymore.



So, make sure to check the mempool first before sending a transaction and keep in mind to avoid paying too much transaction costs.

[Catenaccio]

People were willing to pay up to 2000 sat/vbyte recently for transactions, which is beyond ridiculous and not helpful for anyone.
Even Jochen Hoenicke's website doesn't have any colours above that limit anymore.

Colors can be added but will not help any real Bitcoin users because spending 1000+ to 2000+ sat/vbyte is more than ridiculous but like suicide.

Like this transaction
https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/transactions/btc/12b848352abce1d9f9e69492bfadf3f15eb7ed4f01a46f751ca49eb62c0cd0b3

Sending $71 and $69 goes to transaction fee, only $1,6 left after making that transaction. Fee rate for that transaction is 514 sat/byte.

[un_rank]

Like this transaction
...

Your link appears to be broken from my end, here is an alternate link to that txid^[1]. It shows it includes OP_RETURN and it is also a CPFP transaction. To be fair there are crazier transactions which have been sent in the last 80 blocks since the halving.

[1] https://mempool.space/tx/12b848352abce1d9f9e69492bfadf3f15eb7ed4f01a46f751ca49eb62c0cd0b3

- Jay -

[RickDeckard]

Even Jochen Hoenicke's website doesn't have any colours above that limit anymore.

Up until recently it was very hard for me to imagine a situation where we would see this kind of comment but sadly here we are. I wonder how many users are now being introduced to bitcoin with all these news  going around and when they finally sign up for an exchange they are faced with these ridiculous fees. I assume that most will just avoid buying bitcoin but the worst part of it is the damage that it does to the overall adoption of it.

[Mia Chloe]

Hello everyone.  
I would like to bump my topic since transaction fees have spiked a lot recently.
People were willing to pay up to 2000 sat/vbyte recently for transactions, which is beyond ridiculous and not helpful for anyone.
Even Jochen Hoenicke's website doesn't have any colours above that limit anymore.



So, make sure to check the mempool first before sending a transaction and keep in mind to avoid paying too much transaction costs.

This is one of the major problems Bitcoin has been facing for a very long time now. Anytime there is an event, there is always a high tendency that Bitcoin fees will increase. I can remember vividly towards late periods of last year when ordinals were First introduced into the bitcoin space, fees immediately rose and hardly dropped till early this year when the ordinal tension had dropped. I can still recall when Bitcoin  made a new all time high this year and as you would expect fees increased to even more than double it's initial value, mainly because people were rushing to move their coins to exchanges so they could swap them and make some profit off it.

Now it's halving and the tension of people trying to make sure their transaction fits in block 840,000 was so high that fees recently rose to over 4000sats/bytes and funny enough most persons were totally ready to pay. Even now fees are just too uneconomical and it's going to take over a week before these fees would likely return to normal.

[Coyster]

I assume that most will just avoid buying bitcoin but the worst part of it is the damage that it does to the overall adoption of it.

That's correct, even people who have been in the network for many years cannot make transactions on the network right now because of how high transaction fee is, now think about a newcomer, it is enough reason for them to lose any interest they have in Bitcoin. I am pretty sure the fees would drop after sometime, so it is essential for us to tell newbies that transaction fees would not stay permanently high, when the congestion lessens and the spammers go away, fees would become affordable again.

[dkbit98]

Even Jochen Hoenicke's website doesn't have any colours above that limit anymore.

I dont know when they last updated their website and made some changes, everything looks the same like in the old days and I thin they need some redesign to fit this extreme high fees.
Mempool.space is much better alternative, both visually and for more information, so I switched to this as my main source for monitoring transaction fees state.