Bitcoin transaction fees

What determines the fee on a bitcoin transaction?

If you're sending bitcoin, you'll pay a fee to get your transaction confirmed by miners. The size of that fee doesn't depend on how much bitcoin you're sending. Instead, it's about how much data your transaction adds to the next block. This is measured in satoshis per virtual byte, often written as sat/vB or sats/vByte.

Think of block space as limited. Not every transaction fits right away. When things get busy, and lots of users are sending bitcoin at once, the mempool gets crowded and fees climb as people outbid each other to get faster confirmation. When activity slows down, fees shrink again.

The data size of your transaction (not the bitcoin amount) matters most. For example, if your transaction is 200 vBytes and the going rate is 10 sat/vB, you'll pay 2,000 sats (that's 0.00002 BTC), no matter if you're sending a tiny or substantial sum.

How to pay less on bitcoin network fees

The kind of address you're sending from can influence your fee. SegWit addresses tend to cost less, since they store signature information more efficiently. These usually start with bc1. If you're using an address that begins with 1, you're likely paying more for the same transaction.

There's also timing and fee options in most wallets. Many offer a 'slow', 'regular', or 'fast' option for network fees. If you're not in a hurry, choosing a slower confirmation can save you money. It's best if you actually have a choice.

Services and exchanges sometimes package a batch of customer withdrawals into a single transaction, which can lower your share of the network fee. Or, if you're transferring a small payment, you could use a layer 2 solution such as the Lightning Network, which settles off-chain and avoids main network fees for smaller or frequent payments.

What to do when a bitcoin transaction is stuck

Low fee? Sometimes, that means your transaction waits unconfirmed for a long time. Some wallets support what's called replace-by-fee (RBF), which lets you rebroadcast your transaction with a higher fee as long as it hasn't been confirmed yet. Another method is child-pays-for-parent (CPFP): you spend the unconfirmed output in a new transaction, attach a bigger fee, and miners pick up both together.

However, not all wallets or exchanges support RBF or CPFP. Check your settings before you send, especially if you're withdrawing from an exchange, since options to adjust fees may be limited. If you need step-by-step advice, see why a crypto transaction is pending or delayed.

Frequently asked questions