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Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this just mean that fees have to be higher? Welcome to markets, where technical constraints and supply/demand dynamics both

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this just mean that fees have to be higher? Welcome to markets, where technical constraints and supply/demand dynamics both influence price.

gruez 11y ago
Exactly. The issue is that people are to accustomed to paying little to no fees, so nobody wants to pay a few cents more for faster confirmations.
- replies_to_all 11y ago
  My transaction just cost nearly $1, so yeh, thats a lot of cents for some people, and the point is that it is an unnecessary constraint.
- Tideflat 11y ago
  Having little or no fees was supposed to be one of the big advantages of bitcoin compared to traditional financial transactions.
  - lololomg 11y ago
    Not true at all. I'm not sure where people get this idea but if you read Satoshi's original paper you'll see that this is just false.
    - haakon 11y ago
      Unfortunately, this is how Bitcoin was promoted for a long time. "Free, instant transactions!" It always bugged me.
lololomg 11y ago
Yea this is really not a big problem. Currently people are using Bitcoin to move around amounts as small as a tiny fraction of a cent. That's just a waste of blockchain space. We all know there needs to be a transaction fee to stop these so-called 'dust transactions'
mrestko 11y ago
I believe the issue is overall capacity. Sure, you can up transaction fees and get your transaction processed rapidly. But that's not a sustainable strategy if bitcoin continues to rise in popularity. Since total capacity isn't increased, you will have more and more people competing for what capacity exists and this will lead to ever-escalating fees.
adrianmacneil 11y ago
It's a market with an artificial, centrally planned cap on supply. So yes, it means that fees have to be higher, but it also means that some people/transactions will necessarily be priced out (or move to alternative, cheaper blockchains, as is currently happening).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't this just mean that fees have to be higher? Welcome to markets, where technical constraints and supply/demand dynamics both influence price.

gruez 11y ago

Exactly. The issue is that people are to accustomed to paying little to no fees, so nobody wants to pay a few cents more for faster confirmations.

replies_to_all 11y ago
My transaction just cost nearly $1, so yeh, thats a lot of cents for some people, and the point is that it is an unnecessary constraint.
Tideflat 11y ago
Having little or no fees was supposed to be one of the big advantages of bitcoin compared to traditional financial transactions.
- lololomg 11y ago
  Not true at all. I'm not sure where people get this idea but if you read Satoshi's original paper you'll see that this is just false.
  - haakon 11y ago
    Unfortunately, this is how Bitcoin was promoted for a long time. "Free, instant transactions!" It always bugged me.

lololomg 11y ago

Yea this is really not a big problem. Currently people are using Bitcoin to move around amounts as small as a tiny fraction of a cent. That's just a waste of blockchain space. We all know there needs to be a transaction fee to stop these so-called 'dust transactions'

mrestko 11y ago

I believe the issue is overall capacity. Sure, you can up transaction fees and get your transaction processed rapidly. But that's not a sustainable strategy if bitcoin continues to rise in popularity. Since total capacity isn't increased, you will have more and more people competing for what capacity exists and this will lead to ever-escalating fees.

adrianmacneil 11y ago

It's a market with an artificial, centrally planned cap on supply. So yes, it means that fees have to be higher, but it also means that some people/transactions will necessarily be priced out (or move to alternative, cheaper blockchains, as is currently happening).