摘要： Transaction fees

▲圖片標題(來源：Anatol Hooper)

What are transaction fees?

Transaction fees are paid when cryptocurrencies are transferred to another wallet.

Processing transactions on the blockchain takes effort — and these fees are used to compensate the miners and validators who help keep things running smoothly.

Transaction fees can fluctuate based on how busy a blockchain network is, and they can also be flexible. A user who wants their payment to be confirmed urgently can choose to pay a higher fee so miners are incentivized to put their transaction at the front of the queue.

These charges are fixed on most cryptocurrency exchanges, but users may have the option to adjust fees when using certain wallets.

Why do transaction fees exist?

They were initially introduced on Bitcoin as an anti-spam tool, but they turned into one of the most essential attributes of a blockchain.

Initially, transaction fees had the sole purpose of deterring malicious actors from overloading the Bitcoin network. Satoshi Nakamoto, the cryptocurrency’s pseudonymous inventor, was inspired by Adam Back’s hashcash system, which relied on a Proof of Work (PoW) system.

About two years later, Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen noticed a source code rule that required a minimum transaction fee of 0.01 BTC — that would be an eye-watering $137 at today’s prices.

Back in 2010, this fee didn’t seem like much of an issue. But as time passed, with Bitcoin’s dollar value rising and demand for block space increasing, people realized it was too expensive — especially for those who wanted to send smaller amounts of cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin developers updated the network to omit that rule, and increased the block size through the SegWit2x upgrade. Now, transaction fees can be much lower than 0.01 BTC, and they have become an essential part of the network’s health.

Other blockchains, such as Ethereum and Ripple, also realized the importance of transaction fees and adopted similar strategies to keep miners motivated.

詳見全文： cointelegraph.com

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