Why are bitcoin fees so high?

@paolo.leuschke 

There are a few factors that contribute to high bitcoin fees:

1. Scalability issues: Bitcoin has a limited block size of 1 MB, which means there is a limited amount of space available for transactions in each block. As the popularity and usage of bitcoin have increased over time, the number of transactions waiting to be included in a block has also increased, leading to a backlog. Miners prioritize transactions with higher fees, causing users who offer lower fees to wait longer for their transactions to be processed.
2. Supply and demand: Bitcoin fees are determined by the free market, where users compete to have their transactions included in the limited block space available. As the demand for transactions exceeds the supply of block space, fees increase to incentivize miners to prioritize specific transactions.
3. Mining rewards: Miners receive new bitcoins as a reward for validating transactions and including them in the blockchain. However, as the block reward decreases over time (currently at 6.25 bitcoins per block), miners rely more on transaction fees to compensate for their work. Thus, they prioritize transactions with higher fees to maximize their earnings.
4. Layer 2 solutions: Bitcoin's scalability challenges have driven the development of layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network. These solutions allow for faster and cheaper transactions by offloading some of the transaction volume to a secondary layer. However, for on-chain transactions that initiate or settle these layer 2 transactions, fees are still incurred.

It is important to note that bitcoin fees can fluctuate depending on network conditions, demand, and user behavior. Users have the option to set their own fees when making transactions, with lower fees potentially leading to longer confirmation times.