Bitcoin fees remain low but Vitalik believes they could soar. Despite the surge in Bitcoin to re-test its 2017 highs, a combination of low on-chain transactions and decreased retail uncertainty has shown that transaction fees remain low.
Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin doesn’t believe Bitcoin’s current low fees will last. In a Twitter thread the Ethereum co-founder suggested that an inevitable increase in transaction fees will push out the majority of users “Why do Bitcoin’s unique features matter given that any wide adoption scenario will lead to base chain fees pricing out most of those users and it’s proving hard to extend those features to the L2s intended to circumvent those limitations?”
However the data do not indicate that high fees are likely to be incurred in the current setting. In order to understand what is going on in the context, it is important to look at the amount of transactions being processed, the valuation of those transactions, and how much BTC is being kept in the long term.
Bitcoin’s memory pool, similar to a waiting room for transactions, shows the current number of daily unconfirmed transactions at 38,900 — only around 20% of the 2017 figures.
Additionally, Bitcoin users are holding their coins instead of transacting with them this time around. The amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges has been dropping fast. Data from analytics platform Glassnode Studio shows the year-to-date change is down 18% as of Nov. 21.
[image: Pierre Borthiry]
