Ethereum and Bitcoin Transaction Fees Hit New Lows, Signaling Relief for Users

Transaction fees on the Ethereum and Bitcoin networks have tanked, falling well below levels reached after prior spikes. This historic 66% cut delivers much needed cost relief for users. Until now, they faced unbearable transaction costs whenever they tried to operate on these rapidly-adopted blockchains. A handful of reasons led to this drop, setting a more budget-friendly tone for everyone on the network.

Ethereum Transaction Costs Plunge

Swapping tokens on Ethereum now costs an average of $0.22. That’s a stingy decrease from this year’s price of $1.16! Just the cost of an NFT sale and borrowing on Ethereum is already up to approximately $0.37. In addition, bridging has gotten much cheaper – approximately $0.07.

These lowered fees are exemplified even more by the Etherscan Gas Tracker, showing that fees are currently under 1 gwei. A very high-priority Ethereum transfer, usually finalized in ~30 seconds, is 0.388 gwei or less than 1 cent. As this cost has plummeted since April 18, 2024, sending Ethereum is now incredibly inexpensive. It’s gone down by 92%!

Bitcoin Fees See Drastic Reduction

Bitcoin transaction fees have gone through a significant drop. On that day April 18, 2024, the average Bitcoin transaction fee was about $16.16. As of this writing, users can still get their transactions confirmed within a few blocks for around 4 satoshi/byte which is around $0.47.

The mempool, where all pending transactions are held, is currently at around 21,000 transactions. This reduction in both fees and pending transactions is a positive sign of an evolving, more efficient and less congested network.

Factors Contributing to the Fee Reduction

There are a few possible explanations for this drop in transaction fees. Network upgrades, scalability solutions, and increased network efficiency contribute to cost savings. Moreover, changes in user behavior and market conditions can affect the demand for block space and therefore transaction fees. This new lower fees in turn saves users of the network money while fostering increased engagement and overall adoption of cryptocurrencies.