cumulative Bitcoin transaction fees
Number one and world’s most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, conquered yet another milestone this year. The cumulative Bitcoin transaction fees have surpassed 1 billion USD. Data from the financial and economic data site Quandl reveal that the milestone was reached on the 11th Anniversary of the world’s first cryptocurrency – October 11th.
Even though this was not surprising to many, the milestone is only a representation of the health, reach and consistency of Bitcoin. Data from analytics firm Coin Metrics state that over 200,000 BTC have been paid in a transaction fee from 2009, 3 months after the anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto unveiled it for the first time through the whitepaper.
The platform has come a long way since then, and its popularity and price has soared with no real threat of competition. Though this achievement is not the most significant one in Bitcoin’s cabinet, it is an indicator of continued use over time. Greater upswings in fees indicate great upswings in network use and competition in mining transactions. The fees vary based on network usage. The more a network is used, the higher is the transaction fees and vice versa.
The significant contribution to this milestone was made during the 2017-18 winter bull run. In December 2017, the transaction fees increased to nearly $55 as compared to the past four weeks, which saw an average transaction fee of around $1.
Cumulative Transaction Fees
After this, even though transaction volume has increased, transaction fees have seen a fall. It is due to innovative technology like the Lightning Network that has made blockchain transactions simpler and easier. But 2019 has been relatively high for Bitcoin mainly when compared to a decline that hit the entire crypto market.
Investors continued trust and interest in Bitcoin can be seen as one of the most significant factors towards this success. It comes in the midst of multiple other milestones reached by the crypto platform this year. But how these milestones will shape Bitcoin’s future is debatable.
As it is inching closer to the 21 million Bitcoin supply limit, more importance will be given to transaction fees and less to mining rewards. It might lead to transactions fee becoming a tool of compensation for maintaining the Bitcoin Network.
Even though this milestone might not be of any real significance to the platform, it is one that it will be happy to take any day.