Fee rate
A Bitcoin fee rate is the fee a transaction pays per virtual byte of block space, written in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB).
As of block 971,630 (15 Oct 2026, 23:06 UTC), the next block takes 0.8 sat/vB and up.
What you pay per unit of block space. Miners fill blocks with the best-paying transactions first, so the rate you pay, not the amount you send, decides how soon you confirm.
How is the fee calculated?
Fee = fee rate × size. A typical payment of 140 virtual bytes at 2 sat/vB pays 280 satoshis. The amount sent doesn't matter: sending 0.001 BTC or 100 BTC in the same size of transaction costs the same.
What fee rate should I pay?
Enough to beat the queue you see. Miners take the best-paying transactions first, so look at what the next block takes right now. When the mempool is quiet, the lowest rate nodes relay is enough to get in within a block or two.
Sources
Updated 10 Oct 2026
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