Does Selecting The Mining Fee Option to Mempool Do This?

[Basels]

I recently set the mining fee option to mempool and noticed that it automatically adjusts based on network state. Even though I've used my Electrum wallet for some time, this is the first time I have been using the mempool option as my default. The last time I made a transaction, I noticed the mining fee rate was set at 2 sat/vB and have also seen it change to something else depending on network congestion.

Has anyone else noticed this?
If it does this, what's the need for ETA and the other option?

[hosemary]

ETA and mempool are just two different fee estimation methods and you can use either of them depending on your needs.

When you choose mempool, you set the fee rate based on how far from the tip of the mempool you want your transaction to be.
When you choose ETA, you set the fee rate based on estimated number of blocks until your transaction is confirmed.

[Charles-Tim]

I use static or feerate all the time. I think it is called static on mobile Electrum.

I use it because I am using some sites to check the mempool before I go further to make transaction. It only means you know what you are doing and no need for Electrum estimation.

ETA for the block the transaction will likely be confirmed.

Although, I do not think the static/feerate is necessary so far fee customization is still post when you set it to ETA or mempool.

[EL MOHA]

ETA for the block the transaction will likely be confirmed.

The ETA usually overestimates fees than the mempool option while this is not great for a stable network like we have now, it is usually good incase there is unstable network and the fees fluctuate. With most nodes now on RBF and also electrum having the RBF option mempool option is a good option because even if the fee rate increases later one can increase the fee using the RBF option and this will save us from paying unnecessary extra fees

[Charles-Tim]

The ETA usually overestimates fees than the mempool option while this is not great for a stable network like we have now, it is usually good incase there is unstable network and the fees fluctuate. With most nodes now on RBF and also electrum having the RBF option mempool option is a good option because even if the fee rate increases later one can increase the fee using the RBF option and this will save us from paying unnecessary extra fees

Maybe, but I am of the opinion that none should be followed until you have confirmed on mempool which fee rate can get the transaction confirmed with high, medium and low priority estimates. Just like I have posted, I prefer the static because of that. I still confirm on https://jochen-hoenicke.de/queue/#BTC,24h,weight which fee rate I should use. There are other sites that can be used like https://mempool.space/.

[decodx]

If it does this, what's the need for ETA and the other option?

We have various options, because some people want things done differently than others.

you can see from the previous comments that there are still people who prefer setting static feerates manually... I am one of them, too.
And Electrum is full of redundant settings like that anyway.

[hosemary]

I use static or feerate all the time. I think it is called static on mobile Electrum.

I use it because I am using some sites to check the mempool before I go further to make transaction. It only means you know what you are doing and no need for Electrum estimation.

If you want to set the fee rate based on your own analyzes, I doubt the "Feerate" option is helpful to you.
Feerate doesn't allow you to set the fee rate to less than 1 sat/vbyte.

The ETA usually overestimates fees than the mempool option while this is not great for a stable network like we have now, it is usually good incase there is unstable network and the fees fluctuate.

Both ETA and mempool options are very bad, because they don't recognize fee rates below 1 sat/vbyte.

[Charles-Tim]

If you want to set the fee rate based on your own analyzes, I doubt the "Feerate" option is helpful to you.
Feerate doesn't allow you to set the fee rate to less than 1 sat/vbyte.

Did you use a server that allows sub 1 sat/vbyte?

All I think I have been using is the feerate/static since years ago and not use the other two options. Both of my devices that I use for Electrum wallet are now here with me. I will confirm this tomorrow when I get back home to be sure about it.

[hosemary]

Did you use a server that allows sub 1 sat/vbyte?

Yes, I just tried it with several servers to make sure, and it wasn't possible to move the slider below 1 sat/vbyte. I think it's the GUI that doesn't allow that, and it has nothing to do with the servers.
As far as I know, you have to enter the fee rate manually if you want to use a fee rate below 1 sat/vbyte.

[BitMaxz]

Yes, I just tried it with several servers to make sure, and it wasn't possible to move the slider below 1 sat/vbyte. I think it's the GUI that doesn't allow that, and it has nothing to do with the servers.
As far as I know, you have to enter the fee rate manually if you want to use a fee rate below 1 sat/vbyte.

Are they allowed to use a low fee below 1 sat/vByte in Electrum?

I tried the fee rate option, but it is only 1 sat/vByte fixed when I slide them to full. If it's allowed, how do you do it?

[Charles-Tim]

Yes, I just tried it with several servers to make sure, and it wasn't possible to move the slider below 1 sat/vbyte. I think it's the GUI that doesn't allow that, and it has nothing to do with the servers.
As far as I know, you have to enter the fee rate manually if you want to use a fee rate below 1 sat/vbyte.

Yes, I always enter the fee manually.

Are they allowed to use a low fee below 1 sat/vByte in Electrum?

I tried the fee rate option, but it is only 1 sat/vByte fixed when I slide them to full. If it's allowed, how do you do it?

Edit the fee rate to a fee rate lower than 1 sat/vbyte. If the server support it, the transaction will be broadcasted. If the server did not support it, try another server.

Read the Electrum part of this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5556044.0
Maybe the servers mentioned are still working.
There are other servers that support sub 1 sat/vbyte.

[hosemary]

I tried the fee rate option, but it is only 1 sat/vByte fixed when I slide them to full. If it's allowed, how do you do it?

There is no way to move the slider below 1 sat/vbyte. You need to set the fee rate manually.
If Electrum doesn't allow you to set the fee rate manually, just click "Tools" and check "Edit fees manually".

[nc50lc]

If it does this, what's the need for ETA and the other option?

It's per user preference.

There are those who don't prefer mempool slider because it doesn't estimate fees at all, it's purely based on the selected server's mempool's state.
E.g.: if it's set to the very tip of its mempool but the previous block was just mined a few seconds ago, so the next block would be mined in the next 10minutes (by average).
That seemingly priority transaction wont make it to the next block after just a few minutes.
In other words, by using mempool slider, the user has to do the estimation himself instead of the wallet.

For ETA, it does extra calculations based from the transactions in the previous blocks and mempool.
It may not be accurate but it's a good option for those who want a close-to-guaranteed estimate, usually for priority transactions.

For static slider, that's basically manual fee without actually editing the numbers.

[ABCbits]

Are they allowed to use a low fee below 1 sat/vByte in Electrum?

I tried the fee rate option, but it is only 1 sat/vByte fixed when I slide them to full. If it's allowed, how do you do it?

Edit the fee rate to a fee rate lower than 1 sat/vbyte. If the server support it, the transaction will be broadcasted. If the server did not support it, try another server.

As alternative, copy the raw TX and use online Bitcoin TX broadcast/push service such as https://mempool.space/tx/push or https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/assets/btc/broadcast-transaction. IMO it's faster than finding server that support sub 1 sat/vB fee rate.

[Charles-Tim]

As alternative, copy the raw TX and use online Bitcoin TX broadcast/push service such as https://mempool.space/tx/push or https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/assets/btc/broadcast-transaction. IMO it's faster than finding server that support sub 1 sat/vB fee rate.

I have tried it to the extent that I knew some of them that are supporting less than 1 sat/vbyte fee. It may be difficult in the beginning, but he will get use to it.

Alternatively, he can find a server that has it and leave it as manual server selection if he does not feel bothered about it. And he can sometimes just change it to another server.

[hosemary]

As alternative, copy the raw TX and use online Bitcoin TX broadcast/push service such as https://mempool.space/tx/push or https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/assets/btc/broadcast-transaction. IMO it's faster than finding server that support sub 1 sat/vB fee rate.

Unlike in the past, it's not really difficult to find an Electrum server that accepts sub 1 sat/vbyte transactions.
According to my experience, even if you let Electrum connect to a server automatically or you choose a random server manually, there's still a very good chance that the server will accept your transaction.


By the way, how can you create a raw transaction if you are connected to a server that doesn't accept sub 1 sat/vbyte transactions?
I just connected to a server that doesn't accept sub 1 sat/vbyte transactions and tried to make a raw transaction. As you can see in the following image, Electrum doesn't allow me to proceed to the next step at all.