What does it cost to send Bitcoin today?

At 15 Oct 2026, 14:59 UTC, a typical native SegWit Bitcoin payment (141 vB) costs about $0.58 to target the next block at 5 sat/vB. The mempool holds 41.7 blocks of pending transactions (storm). A plain ETH transfer costs about $0.05.

Stale reading — last good data 15 Oct 2026, 14:59 UTC · source: mempool.space

Thursday, 15 October 2026. Dollar figures use the Binance BTC/USDT spot price ($81,892) as a USD proxy. Fees are estimates for a transaction’s size, not for the amount sent.

How congested is the Bitcoin mempool?

Storm. 86,896 unconfirmed transactions totalling 41,676,010 vB are waiting — about 41.7 blocks’ worth at 1,000,000 vB per block. Large backlog; minimum-fee transactions can wait days or be purged.

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 971,712, 125 blocks away, estimated around 16 Oct 2026, 10:32 UTC. If blocks keep arriving at the current pace (average 9.4 minutes), difficulty would change by about +6.64%. The previous adjustment was -0.03%.

Countdown detail and halving math: difficulty & halving countdowns.

How many blocks until the next Bitcoin halving?

78,413 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 12 Apr 2028; real timing drifts with hashrate.

What is the Ethereum base fee right now?

At block 26,198,667 the base fee was 0.755 gwei, with a median priority tip of 0.200 gwei over the last 20 blocks. A plain ETH transfer uses exactly 21,000 gas, so it costs about 0.0000201 ETH ($0.05). Blocks were on average 49% full against the gas target’s 50%.

Stale reading — last good data 15 Oct 2026, 14:59 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.

• 2026-10-15Thursday, 15 October 20261 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.
• DifficultyBitcoin Difficulty Adjustment Explained: 2,016 BlocksEvery 2,016 blocks Bitcoin resets mining difficulty so blocks average ten minutes. The formula, the 4x clamp, how estimates are made and what it means for fees.
• 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.
• SafetyCrypto Scam Warning Signs: Red Flags and Where to ReportCrypto scams share patterns: guaranteed returns, pressure, seed phrase requests, fake support and withdrawal fees. FTC and FBI red flags and where to report.
• 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.

All guides