Bitcoin payment fees may be close to zero at the moment but that's only because miners get paid with newly-minted bitcoins. As I write this, there are 12,130,0

Bitcoin payment fees may be close to zero at the moment but that's only because miners get paid with newly-minted bitcoins. As I write this, there are 12,130,075 bitcoins in existence[1]. Over the coming year, approximately 1,314,000 bitcoins will be "minted" (25 new bitcoins every ten minutes). If Bitcoin were a real currency, that would equate to an inflation rate in excess of 10%. So, in effect, every bitcoin owner would be paying 10% of their Bitcoin wealth for "free" payments, whether or not they actually make/receive any payments or not. [1]: http://blockexplorer.com/q/totalbc http://blockexplorer.com/q/totalbc