Bitcoin Core Cuts Transaction Fees by 90%

Bitcoin Core 29.1 reduces the default minimum relay fee from 1 sat/vB to 0.1 sat/vB, making BTC transactions cheaper while preserving DoS protection.

Major Fee Reduction in Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Core developers have rolled out version 29.1, marking a significant update for the network. The default minimum relay fee for transactions has been slashed by 90% — from 1 sat/vB to 0.1 sat/vB.

This change makes Bitcoin transactions far more affordable. The relay fee setting defines the minimum transaction fee required for nodes to broadcast a transfer. Transactions below this threshold are usually ignored by nodes.

Gradual Adoption Expected

Data from BitRef shows that over 72% of Bitcoin nodes run on Bitcoin Core, but only around 2.3% have already upgraded to version 29.1. Others remain on older versions or use Bitcoin Knots, which has different default policies.

Therefore, the full impact of lower fees will unfold gradually. However, the direction is clear: Bitcoin transactions are becoming cheaper, and blocks with low-fee transactions will propagate faster.

Community Response to Lower Fees

Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao explained that miners had already been including sub-1 sat/vB transactions in blocks, which caused propagation issues when nodes rejected them.

By lowering the default threshold, the network avoids these inefficiencies while still maintaining protection against spam and DoS attacks.

Mempool.Space also encouraged users not to overpay, saying, “0.1 sat/vB is the new 1 sat/vB.”