I came across a Bitcoin transaction fee of $0.12 as the cost for sending approximately 500 Bitcoins. This sounds amazing, strange, or interesting, but you don't have to doubt it because everything is possible with the Bitcoin network. You have the privilege of customizing your transaction fee to a suitable rate that you can afford.
Yes, transaction bitcoin fees are quite low, even during peak network congestion, especially when compared to traditional systems. Still, one shouldn't idealize bitcoin.
Incidentally, the fee amount choose also affects the time it takes for a transaction to be confirmed. If you need a quick confirmation, won't be able to set the minimum fee. For instance, I recently had to wait over a day for a transaction to be confirmed. Since the timing wasn't critical for me, I could afford to wait.
People no longer have to suffer the cross border transaction exorbitant fee under a centralized financial authority with Fiat which government controls and regulate, today, we are all enjoying the relevance of Bitcoin ever since inception, because it makes cross border transaction more cheaper than ever at every affordability for us all, you don't have to go through the conventional process of making payments through a central authority before enjoying swift transaction.
What could have been the cost if such an amount were to be sent in Fiat?
For crypto users, fees often arise in a different context. For instance, if you use services like mobile wallets (e.g., Trust) or exchanges (e.g., Binance), the transaction fees might come as a bit of a surprise.
In reality, you pay a "fee" when converting crypto into fiat currency, and if you use mixers to maintain your privacy, that cost increases even further. So, it is not entirely straightforward. In short, crypto "fees" are often "hidden" or distributed across other areas.