What does it cost to send Bitcoin today?

At 28 Oct 2026, 02:23 UTC, a typical native SegWit Bitcoin payment (141 vB) costs about $0.23 to target the next block at 2 sat/vB. The mempool holds 20.0 blocks of pending transactions (rough). A plain ETH transfer costs about <$0.01.

Reading taken 28 Oct 2026, 02:23 UTC · source: mempool.space

Wednesday, 28 October 2026. Dollar figures use the Binance BTC/USDT spot price ($81,011) as a USD proxy. Fees are estimates for a transaction’s size, not for the amount sent.

How congested is the Bitcoin mempool?

Rough. 47,383 unconfirmed transactions totalling 20,027,656 vB are waiting — about 20.0 blocks’ worth at 1,000,000 vB per block. Low-fee transactions may wait most of a day.

A large backlog does not always mean high fees: much of it can sit at 1–2 sat/vB. Bands are defined in our methodology.

When is the next difficulty adjustment?

The next retarget is at block 973,728, 243 blocks away, estimated around 29 Oct 2026, 16:27 UTC. If blocks keep arriving at the current pace (average 9.4 minutes), difficulty would change by about +6.44%. The previous adjustment was +5.92%.

Countdown detail and halving math: difficulty & halving countdowns.

How many blocks until the next Bitcoin halving?

76,515 blocks remain until block 1,050,000, when the block subsidy falls from 3.125 BTC to 1.5625 BTC. At the 10-minute target spacing that is roughly 11 Apr 2028; real timing drifts with hashrate.

What is the Ethereum base fee right now?

At block 26,288,211 the base fee was 0.074 gwei, with a median priority tip of 0.020 gwei over the last 20 blocks. A plain ETH transfer uses exactly 21,000 gas, so it costs about 0.0000020 ETH (<$0.01). Blocks were on average 47% full against the gas target’s 50%.

Reading taken 28 Oct 2026, 02:23 UTC · source: Ethereum JSON-RPC eth_feeHistory

Why the base fee moves: Ethereum gas, base fee and tips.

Earlier log entries

The log started on Thursday, 15 October 2026. Days are added only from readings actually recorded; nothing is backfilled.

• 2026-10-28Wednesday, 28 October 20263 reading(s)
• 2026-10-27Tuesday, 27 October 202623 reading(s)
• 2026-10-26Monday, 26 October 202623 reading(s)
• 2026-10-25Sunday, 25 October 202623 reading(s)
• 2026-10-24Saturday, 24 October 202622 reading(s)
• 2026-10-23Friday, 23 October 202620 reading(s)
• 2026-10-22Thursday, 22 October 202621 reading(s)

Guides for reading the log

• FeesHow Bitcoin Transaction Fees Work: sat/vB ExplainedBitcoin fees are a transaction’s size in virtual bytes times a fee rate in sat/vB, not a share of the amount sent. Examples, fee tiers and how to pay less.
• HalvingBitcoin Halving Explained: Schedule, Subsidy, Next DateEvery 210,000 blocks the Bitcoin block subsidy halves. Past halving dates, the next one at block 1,050,000, how its date is estimated and what it does to fees.
• EthereumEthereum Gas Fees Explained: Base Fee, Tip and Gas LimitEthereum fees are gas used times the base fee plus a priority tip. How EIP-1559 moves the base fee by up to 12.5% a block, with worked examples in ETH and USD.
• MempoolWhat Is the Bitcoin Mempool? Backlog, Wait Times and PurgingThe mempool is each node’s waiting room for unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions. How backlog is measured in blocks, why it spikes and when low-fee payments drop.
• TaxCrypto Tax Basics: What Counts as a Taxable Event (US & UK)In the US and UK most crypto disposals are taxable: selling, swapping and spending. Official IRS and HMRC rules, Form 1099-DA, record-keeping and network fees.
• Stuck txStuck Bitcoin Transaction? How RBF and CPFP Speed It UpTwo ways to speed up an unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction: Replace-By-Fee if you sent it, Child-Pays-For-Parent if you received it. Math, steps and limits.

All guides