Bitcoin’s settlement efficiency improves: $1 in fees now settles an average of $95,000 2021

The Bitcoin (BTC/USD) network is constantly receiving criticism for poor efficiency, which has been the case for years now. However, the situation might not be as bad as it seems, and certainly not as bad as it used to be a while ago.

According to recent data, the network’s value settlement efficiency has been improving, and quite steadily. More and more money is being settled for lower fees, and so in the last 7 days, the Bitcoin network managed to settle approximately $94,142 for every $1 that was paid in fees.

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This is a much better state of things than it was at the start of the year, with the string of improvements starting back in May of this year. Following the price crash, and then the recovery and a start of a new rally as months progressed, more and more has been moved around the BTC network.

Settlement efficiency: BTC vs ETH

Data from CryptoFees suggests that BTC is the seventh on the list of networks, ordered by daily transaction fees. Its weekly average sits at around $678,000, which puts it below the likes of Ethereum, Uniswap, BSC, SushiSwap, Aave, and Compound.

Right now, Ethereum (ETH/USD) is processing $53 million in daily fees, which is as much as 98.7% more than the BTC network. However, it is unfair to compare the two in terms of fees and value settlement, as they are two completely different projects that operate in different ways, and aim to do different things.

Today, Bitcoin is acting more and more as a store of value asset, while Ethereum is a development platform, decentralized application network, and a smart contract network. As such, it will clearly see a lot more activity, which will pull greater fees on average.

However, if the project’s mean transaction volume is divided by fees, the result is around $139 in value transaction per dollar in fees. Compared with Bitcoin’s $95,000 per $1, Ethereum’s network does not look too well, indicating that its settlement efficiency has been declining heavily.