Bitcoin Is Approaching Its Billionth Dollar Charged in Transaction Fees

According to crypto-analyst Nic Carter (@nic__carter), Bitcoin is set to hit a milestone this fall: $1B collected in transaction fees since its inception.

So Bitcoin is nearing its billionth dollar charged in transaction fees. It should cross the threshold this fall pic.twitter.com/4qeegCinCd

— nic carter 🧊 (@nic__carter) July 30, 2019

It seems that after a major rise in 2017, the number of fees collected has fallen along a trendline. The major spike throughout 2017 was during Bitcoin’s major price discovery that year. Overall, it seems that Bitcoin’s fundamentals are looking strong. With fees nowhere near what they were in 2017 despite reaching an all-time high in transactional volume, it seems that SegWit and batched transactions are working. Over the past 12 months, the cost-per-transaction has dropped by 60 percent. Still, it should be noted that only half of all transactions are SegWit right now, which indicates how much room for improvement there still is. Moreover, Bitcoin’s hash rate is currently at all-time-high. Over the course of just two years, Bitcoin has become 10x more secure. Miners are happy too, making 3.5x more than they were two years ago. Of course, Bitcoin has a long ways to go before it is accepted as a reserve currency or store of value in any capacity. However, the coming halving should make the case for Bitcoin that much easier. The leading cryptocurrency will be minted at half its current rate, which could push the price further upward. Most analysts are expecting a major run-up for Bitcoin in the second half of 2020, if historical trends prove true again this time around. Transaction fees might not seem like an important metric, but it does underscore how old Bitcoin is compared to other cryptocurrencies. With fees now stabilizing, industry leaders now need to further push for SegWit and batching if they haven’t done so already. This way, a transaction fee spike like in 2017 can be prevented during the next bull run. Do you believe that Bitcoin’s fundamentals are getting stronger or worse? Let us know your thoughts below.