Bitcoin Minimum Fee Rate Slashed by 90%—Is That a Good Thing?

Key Points

1. Top Bitcoin blockchain explorer Mempool has reduced the minimum transaction fee from 1 satoshi per virtual byte (sat/vByte) to 0.1 sat/vByte due to low network activity.

2. A satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, with 1 satoshi equaling 0.00000001 BTC.

3. Miners receive 3.125 BTC (worth $367,000 at current prices) per block processed, along with transaction fees.

4. Some node operators may ignore transactions with the 0.1 sat/vByte fee rate, though the protocol allows it.

5. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has commented on Bitcoin's relevance, stating that it must be used for transactions to remain significant.

6. Bitcoin miner Optiminer's CEO noted that as long as Bitcoin's price trends upward, miners will continue to operate profitably despite lower fees.

7. Some users on Crypto Twitter expressed satisfaction with the lower fees, while others debated the necessity of fees for network security.