Bitcoin transfer fee. How to calculate and how to save

We understand the intricacies of calculating commissions for Bitcoin transactions
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You have to pay for transfers on the Blockchain network. This fee is called a commission and it goes to the miners - the people who form the blocks. Bitcoin transfer fees are variable. It decreases and increases depending on the network load. If at the beginning of its existence there was no need to pay fees for Bitcoin transfers at all, then for several years now the fees have continued to rise.

In principle, you can change the standard board by setting more or less. But then it is not a fact that your transaction will not replenish the already existing number of unconfirmed transactions. To prevent this from happening, the Bitcoin transfer fee must be adequate.

Bitcoin transaction

To fully operate on the Bitcoin network, you need to pay a commission. But first, let’s look at where the deductions will be made: 1 Bitcoin = 1000 mBTC = 100 million Satoshi. That is, 1 Satoshi is 0.00000001 Bitcoin. It is in satoshis that deductions are made to pay for transfers.

Transactions have their own characteristics. Let's say you have one Bitcoin. To send 0.5 BTC, you will receive 0.5 BTC in change. Each translation is a program code. It is generated based on where the coins came from and where they are going. Thus, the length of the code will increase depending on the number of participants in the transaction.

You don’t even need to think too hard to indicate the amount of the fee during a transaction. A modern Bitcoin wallet is configured in such a way that when a user makes a transfer, the commission window already displays the amount that the system recommends paying in order for the transaction to be competitive.

Selecting the transaction fee using the example of the Electrum wallet

But the user has the right to indicate the amount that is convenient for him. If you change the commission, the speed of the transaction will also change. The lower the amount, the longer you will have to wait. Some crypto wallets indicate this value. If you pay a lot, the transfer will be included in the next block, and if you are greedy, it is not a fact that the transfer will be included in the 25th block. Also, the cost of cryptocurrency transactions depends on the price of Bitcoin. Because when coins become more expensive, activity on the network increases noticeably.

Where to store satoshi?

After the trader has taken out the satoshi, they need to be placed in a special storage facility. It will only be accessible to its owner. There are six options for places where you can store satoshi:

Deposit storage;
Online services;
Cryptocurrency exchange;
Mobile applications;
Hardware wallets;
"Paper" wallets.

All these storages are suitable for both regular cryptocurrencies and Satoshi.

When a sufficient amount of Satoshi has accumulated in the wallet, they can be transferred to Bitcoin. This currency is many times more expensive than the coins that the miner earned from games. You already know how many satoshis are in Bitcoin, so it will take you quite a long time to save them.

Rules for calculating Bitcoin transaction fees

You can find out what the commission for Bitcoin transactions is using a special service - Bitaps processing. This is done as follows:

Go to the website via the link bitaps.com;
In the “Bitcoin network” block on the main page of the site, see the line “Recommended commission”;
You will see a line with three different colored numbers. They are blue, green and black in color;
Blue - high priority, that is, if you specify the value indicated in blue as a commission, there will be a very high probability of your transaction being included in the next block. Green - medium priority. Black is low priority.
Select a number and divide it by 10 thousand to get the Bitcoin value. This will be the size of the commission.

Bitaps.com home page

We calculate the commission as follows:

In the screenshot above, the value of 40 satoshi per byte is indicated in blue. To determine how much a high priority transaction will cost in bitcoins, you need to divide 40 by 10 thousand. We get 0.004 BTC. That is, in order for your transaction to have high priority, the commission must be 0.004 BTC. The calculation is similar for transactions with low and medium priority.

The values on bitaps.com are constantly changing. Therefore, make the calculation before sending each transaction.

Why do you need a Satoshi converter?

The Satoshi exchange rate to the ruble, dollar or other calculations can be difficult for an unprepared person. That's why online converters come to the rescue. They are fully automated, thanks to which the user simply needs to set his parameters, and the system itself will calculate everything.

The Satoshi converter can make a direct and reverse conversion in a second: how many Satoshi or bitcoins are needed to buy one unit of fiat currency USD, EUR, RUB, UAH, BYN, KZT and others.

What factors does the Bitcoin commission depend on?

Bitcoin commission depends on several factors.

First of all, these are transactions. The more participants, the larger the transaction code. Each new point adds a certain number of bytes to the transaction (mempool size 15 MB). Please note that the minimum translation price increases depending on the size of the code. Every 1000 bytes = 0.0001 Bitcoin.
How many addresses are involved in the transaction.
Network loading. The more trades are carried out at the same time, the higher the commission will be. It prevents the Bitcoin network from becoming overloaded, since not everyone will agree to pay more.

Transaction operations are performed by miners, and commissions are their reward. Thus, the amount you transfer has virtually no effect on the fee. But there is still some pattern, although it concerns the frequency of the transaction:

A large number of small amounts is a high price;
Rare but large Bitcoin transactions – the price drops noticeably.

What could be the commission?

Bitcoin fees are volatile, but sometimes users experience too much volatility. For example, consider the fluctuations for 2022, when the price for a Bitcoin transaction could fluctuate from 1 satoshi to 500 satoshi at the time of the highest Bitcoin rate. As a result, it was unprofitable for users to make transactions, as they could not navigate.

Due to the fact that the price often changes, people are in constant competition. They try, like at an auction, to outbid each other. The speed of the transaction will depend on what commission to set when transferring bitcoins. The one who bids the highest price will complete the transaction the fastest and receive his Bitcoins to his account.

On average, a block is formed in 8 minutes, but the price of inclusion in this block is set before it is formed. If you set low prices, a queue forms that can go on for days. In this case, your transaction will hang, waiting for its turn. That is why, before sending a transaction, pay attention to the recommended commission. The recommended commission is the average at which a user can expect a quick completion of his Bitcoin transaction. If you indicate a higher price than the recommended one, there is reason to believe that such an operation will go faster.

Let's look at the example of a deposit in an ICO:

We make an ICO deposit of 0.01 Bitcoin (about $82).
When transferring, the commission is 0.004 Bitcoin (almost $33). This is the amount that needs to be paid in addition to the money that is sent.
Let's do some simple calculations. If you get back the invested 0.01 Bitcoin + 20% profit, then you get 0.012 Bitcoin ($98).
Everything seems to be fine, we are in profit. But remember the 0.004 Bitcoin commission. That is, we spent $115 and only received $98. Loss 18 dollars.

As a result, making a deposit with such prices is completely unprofitable. If you reduce them, the fee will return back to the Bitcoin wallet, and will not go to the wallet of those addresses that are involved in the transaction. But with large amounts of transfers everything is not so sad.

What is Satoshi?

Satoshi is the smallest and indivisible unit of Bitcoin. If satoshis were denominated in fiat money, and one bitcoin was worth one dollar, then a satoshi would be one cent. That is, the smallest unit that makes up an entire currency sign.

Using the same analogy with the dollar and cent, a synonym for satoshi appeared on the forums. They can also be called crypto cents. However, all the figures given are abstract. In practice, satoshis have their own rate, extraction method and storage location.

Minimum transaction fee

The minimum commission for transferring Bitcoins can be 0%. But, unfortunately, such a “theory” has long since become obsolete. Today it is impossible to transfer Bitcoins for free. Such transfers are non-competitive and are delayed on the network indefinitely. As a result, Bitcoins are returned to the person’s wallet with advice to increase the commission.

But once upon a time such transactions were carried out, albeit under certain conditions. Here they are:

The transaction size must be less than 1000 bytes.
Each output was supposed to contain 0.01 Bitcoin.
High priority level.

Today, commissions when transferring Bitcoins make up a decent percentage of the amount transferred, especially if the amount is small. At the moment, the minimum commission requested for transactions is 0.0001 Bitcoin (at the current rate, this is 82 cents). But by setting this price, there is no point in hoping that your transaction will be included in the next block. It is not a fact that with such a rate it will be possible to make a transfer at least on the same day.

What is the Satoshi rate in dollars?

Like Bitcoin, Satoshi can be sold for very real money. However, Satoshi has one drawback - they do not have a direct exchange rate in relation to fiat, so all calculations have to be carried out through Bitcoin using formulas.

So, for example, before converting Satoshi to dollars, you first need to find out the current Bitcoin exchange rate on the cryptocurrency market. Let's say today Bitcoin costs ten thousand dollars. And we need to find out the price of only ten thousand satoshi. Therefore, you need to calculate using the formula:

Bitcoin exchange rate (10 thousand dollars) / the amount of satoshi in a bitcoin (100 million) = 0.0001 - the current cost of one satoshi;
The cost of one Satoshi today (0.0001) * the amount of Satoshi for sale (10 thousand) = 1 dollar - the desired price of 10 thousand Satoshi.

Bitcoin commission calculator

Today, few people calculate the price of transferring cryptocurrency manually. There are convenient services for this, and we will look at some of them today:

estimatefee.com. A fairly simple platform where you can calculate the transaction price based on how quickly you need to complete the transaction. The service allocates a range of commissions that can meet the client's needs.
Bitcoinfees.info. This platform helps to allocate commissions for several types of transactions at once: slow/medium/fast. All that remains for a person is to choose the method that suits him.
Bitcoinfees.earn.com. This tool shows the transfer fee in Satoshi.

Commission deductions for transfers are a very variable value. While you are forming a deal, its price may change significantly up or down, so the information quickly becomes outdated. Therefore, online calculators are real helpers for beginners in this field.

Let professionals use byte calculators. For example, people involved in mining (the commission is used to pay for their work). By the way, despite the fact that, theoretically, anyone with electricity and processors can engage in mining, in reality you need powerful equipment, which is not cheap. Therefore, mining is the work of professionals, and professionals want decent payment for their work.

Displaying the recommended commission for fast/medium/slow transactions from the Bitcoinfees.info service

How can you get satoshi?

Satoshi is not strongly linked to Bitcoin. This is a separate unit that can be obtained regardless of the coin, and then “collected” Bitcoin itself from them. There are several options for how you can get one satoshi. This:

Mining using powerful computers or entire farms.
Satoshi faucets, in which the miner watched commercials or filled out surveys online. In general, I did an easy job for which the customer could pay with one satoshi.
Games or exchanges where the winning element is satoshi.
Buying Satoshi for real money on the exchange.

Commission for withdrawing Bitcoins into rubles

You can find the most favorable exchange rate for Bitcoins to rubles by monitoring BestChange exchangers. Exchange rate fluctuations largely depend on how active the demand for this cryptocurrency is in the market. The pattern of operation of exchangers is obvious:

If the Bitcoin rate falls, then the exchanger will deliberately lower the rate or raise commissions in order to earn more.
When the rate rises, exchangers will inflate the purchase rate.

There are other ways to withdraw Bitcoins into rubles:

Cryptocurrency exchanger. As a reliable exchanger, we recommend paying attention to the Russian-language multicurrency service Matbi, which has been operating on the crypto market for the 6th year. You can exchange Bitcoin, Dash, Litecoin and Zcash there. The service is equipped with built-in crypto wallets for convenient and secure storage of digital assets. To exchange Bitcoin for rubles, you need to go through a few easy steps, namely:
send bitcoins to your bitcoin address in Matby;
exchange cryptocurrency for rubles;
send rubles to your bank card (Sberbank, VTB, Alfa Bank, etc.) or electronic wallet (QIWI, Yandex.Money). The entire procedure takes on average no more than 15 minutes.
Cryptocurrency exchanges. Only a few platforms work with BTC and rubles. On exchange platforms the exchange rate is more favorable, but the exchange is more difficult. Verification is required and the exchange procedure itself is not the easiest, especially for beginners. At the same time, exchange trading commissions are slightly lower than in exchangers, and commissions must also be paid when withdrawing from the exchange.
To the payment system account. For example, the most profitable option is WebMoney. That is, actually exchange Bitcoin for Webmoney. If you have a formal certificate, you can create a WMX wallet (1 BTC = 1000 WMX). From a WebMoney wallet, money can be withdrawn to a bank card (2%), Yandex.Money (3.7%), QIWI (2.2%), cash (from 1%).

It is not possible to exchange Bitcoins for rubles for free. In addition, you need to follow security rules, since if a transaction is carried out without intermediaries, there is a high risk of encountering scammers.

Scheme for withdrawing Bitcoin into rubles, dollars, euros through the cex.io exchange

Bitcoin to US Dollar exchange service created for your convenience.

EXMO is a reliable cryptocurrency exchange with a high level of security of funds and data and the fastest technical support that responds within 15 minutes 24/7. Taking care of the client is the main priority of the EXMO team.

The EXMO platform, where you can exchange BTC for USD, was founded in 2013 and has offices in London, Kyiv, Istanbul and Moscow. EXMO is one of the largest exchanges in Europe in terms of traffic, BTC trading volume and liquidity.

The platform's easy-to-use interface will be convenient for both beginners and professional traders. The platform uses TradingView charts , which contain all the tools and data a trader needs for technical analysis when trading Bitcoin or US Dollar.

How to save on Bitcoin transfer fees

Although you will have to pay for the transfer in any case, if you need to transfer a small amount of Bitcoins, and the commission component is too high, you can save money.

In particular:

Just enter commissions that are less than the recommended amount. This can be done if the speed of transaction execution is not critical to you;
Make Bitcoin transfers when there are fewer transactions on the blockchain network than usual. For example, the flow is much less at night and in the early morning;
Check the time for the transaction on the official website blockchain.info.ru. In particular, if the value is less than 10 thousand, then you can reduce the commission, and if it is more, it is better not to risk it.

But given that online transactions with a small reward for miners may not be confirmed, there is a big risk of wasting time without sending money. At the moment, the number of unconfirmed transactions is more than 162 thousand, and I would not like yours to join this list.