Bitcoin is a decentralized network and therefore does not have transaction fees, bitcoin transactions are nearly real-time. However, the transactions need to be verified and must be recorded in a so-called block in the Bitcoin Blockchain before the transferred amount can be spent. The blocks are 'mined' by Bitcoin miners, these miners spend time and computing power (with specialized equipment) to secure the Bitcoin network. When a block is found, new bitcoins are generated and transactions are verified.
Therefore, you need these miners to send your bitcoins over the network. You can give the miner who confirms your transaction a tip. Every time a miner finds a new block it can record a certain number of transactions, but not all of them. Most miners will prioritize the transactions with a tip (also called a miner's fee) when recording them in a block.
If you transfer bitcoins, to Bitonic for example, we will receive the transaction almost immediately. But we can only spend the received bitcoins when they have been confirmed. Which is why we wait with the payout until the transaction has been confirmed by the network.
It is best to select a dynamic fee if your wallet supports this. Your wallet will calculate the fee that matches the size of your transaction and also takes into account the average fees that are being paid on the network at that time to ensure your transaction will be confirmed soon.We recommend using at least BTC 0.0003 for standard transactions. In case you have received many small amounts of bitcoin and would like to combine these into one transaction it is important to add more fee, as this will be a large transaction. Transactions that have too little or no fee can take very long to be confirmed, especially if the network is busy and miners are prioritizing transactions with higher fees.
How do I include a fee?
The transaction fee is added to the total of your transaction amount, which is why you can only transfer slightly less than what you have in your Bitcoin wallet. Most wallets do this automatically. You might want to check your settings to see at which amount it is set. Example: If you have exactly BTC 1 in your wallet, you can transfer BTC 0.9997 and have spent everything. The miner who confirms your transaction will receive BTC 0.0003 as a fee. If you were to send this transaction to us, you indicate on our website that you wish to sell BTC 0.9997, since that is the amount you have available.
Are you not sure which fee your wallet uses? Look this up in the manual of your wallet before you transfer bitcoins and make sure that it is at least at BTC 0.0003 (preferably 0.0005). Transactions that don’t have a miner's fee can go unconfirmed for days sometimes, and we cannot pay out without a confirmation!
