Bitcoin Transaction Fee

What it costs — by speed

Based on a standard ~140-vByte transfer. Sending 0.01 BTC or 100 BTC costs the same fee — size in bytes sets the price, not the amount. The last column shows the fee as a share of what you send: painful on tiny transfers, nothing on big ones. Live mempool data, refreshed every 30s.

Why Bitcoin fees jump around

Bitcoin charges by transaction size in bytes, not by the amount you send — moving 0.01 BTC or 100 BTC costs the same if the transaction is the same size. The price per byte (sat/vByte) is set by competition for limited block space. When the mempool is quiet it's a few cents; during a bull-run frenzy or an ordinals wave it has spiked past $30–50 per simple send. That's the trap: people who don't check overpay massively on a busy block, or get stuck for hours by underpaying.

Comparing chains? See the same idea for Ethereum and Layer-2s. Trading leverage instead of moving coins? Your real risk is liquidation — check it with the liquidation calculator.

FAQ

Does sending more Bitcoin cost a higher fee? No. Bitcoin fees are priced by transaction size in bytes (sat/vByte), not by the amount transferred — sending 0.01 BTC or 100 BTC in a standard transaction costs the same fee. That's why the fee hurts most as a percentage on small transfers and is negligible on large ones.

Why do Bitcoin fees suddenly spike? Fees are set by competition for limited block space (about 1-4MB every ~10 minutes). When many people want to transact at once — a bull-run rush or an ordinals inscription wave — the sat/vByte price bid up by the mempool can spike past $30-50 for a simple send. During quiet periods it drops to a few cents.

What's the difference between the fee speed tiers? Priority targets confirmation in the next block (~10 minutes) at the highest sat/vByte rate. Standard usually confirms within ~30 minutes at a lower rate. Economy can take an hour or more but costs the least. Pick based on how urgently you need the transaction confirmed.