According to sources, on October 16th, a Bitcoin user managed to transfer 29,999 BTC with a transaction fee of only $0.10. This amount of Bitcoin equates to $194 million, and a transaction of this magnitude would usually incur bank fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. With such a small Bitcoin fee[1] for such a large transaction, will we see widespread adoption for big over-sea payments?
Small Bitcoin Fee
Bitcoin transactions[2] are a funny one. Often, complaints roll in by the dozen about the cost of transaction fees because to clear a transaction on such a high-volume network means paying for expensive miners.
But this transaction shows the potential of the Bitcoin blockchain to perform cross-border payments cost-efficiently and effectively.
Expensive Claims
Claims have risen before about transactions on the Bitcoin network costing $60. As recently as October 14th, cryptocurrency critic Nouriel Roubini, economist and professor at Stern School, made such a statement.
However, his claim was met with fire:
“BTC fees are less than $0.10, easily verifiable. If you value truth, you’d provide a public correction.”
So if this transaction did indeed only cost the sender a small Bitcoin fee of $0.10, then it throws regular banks into chaos.
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Regular Banking Fees
To put it in perspective, the cheapest platforms available to transfer fiat currency abroad still ask for a percentage of the cost, and that percentage is far greater than $0.10.
For example, on a platform like Transferwise[4], to send over $1 million, it costs over $7,500 in transaction fees.
Percentage-wise, this figure is less than 1% of $1 million,
