Blockchain fees: An underestimated necessity
When sending cryptocurrencies, variable fees are usually incurred, which are paid to the network (the miners). This serves as compensation for the miners, as they operate the blockchain with their computers and ensure its decentralized distribution. Cryptonow covers these fees when activating Cryptonow gift cards. When transferring your cryptocurrency from the Cryptonow gift card to a digital wallet or forwarding it, the corresponding fees are directly deducted and paid to the operators of the blockchain.
How Blockchain fees are incurred
For a blockchain to function, parties (miners) are needed to keep the network running. These parties provide their computing power and resources such as electricity. They do this by solving computational tasks using high-performance computers, thus verifying blockchain transactions. To execute such a transaction, a small amount (blockchain fee) is credited to the miners for their work. Therefore, such blockchain fees are paid directly to the network participants as compensation for their efforts to operate the blockchain.
Why Blockchain fees are necessary
The fundamental purpose of blockchain fees is to create incentives for miners. These fees serve as a reward for their participation in the network by verifying transactions and adding them to the blockchain. Without fees, miners would have no incentive to contribute their computing power to the network. This would result in insufficient participants (miners) in the network, thus endangering its decentralization, a key aspect of cryptocurrencies. Therefore, one can say that the more attractive a blockchain's fee model is, the more miners it attracts, thereby improving decentralization. Increased competition among miners leads to a more distributed network, which in turn means more security. In short, fees in a blockchain are indispensable for the security of the blockchain.
How Cryptonow handles Blockchain fees
When you purchase a Cryptonow gift card, you pay fees when activating your Cryptonow card. These fees include commission and order execution fees, a fee for activating the voucher, and network fees. After activating your Cryptonow gift card, the purchased cryptocurrency still needs to be sent from our wallet to your Cryptonow gift card. For this transaction, blockchain fees are incurred again. Cryptonow covers these blockchain fees and does not charge you for them. For all further transactions (after card activation), official blockchain fees apply.
Why Blockchain fees are variable
Most fees of various cryptocurrencies are variable. This means that depending on the network's congestion, higher or lower fees are charged for a transaction. However, this does not mean that the amount of fees depends on the current price of the cryptocurrency, but on how many transactions are currently being executed. A transaction typically represents sending the cryptocurrency to a wallet. Therefore, if more transactions are made simultaneously at a certain time, the transaction will be processed first by the miners who have paid the highest price for it.
What you can do about high Blockchain fees
Before executing a blockchain transaction, you should consider the following: Inform yourself about the current network congestion. There are various tools on the internet for this purpose. Below, you can check the fees of the respective blockchain:
Bitcoin: Bitcoin Explorer
Ethereum: Ethereum Explorer
Solana: ≈ 0.0001 SOL
Polkadot: ≈ 0.024 DOT
Avalanche: ≈ 0.01 AVAX
In conclusion, it can be said that blockchain fees play an essential role within a blockchain network. They provide a financial incentive for operating the blockchain and ensure that miners are compensated for their provided computing power.