Historical Showdown: Ethereum vs. Bitcoin Network Fees
Ethereum and Bitcoin, as the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, have always had their network transaction fees serve as a crucial indicator of network activity and user costs. Historically, the transaction fees of the two major networks have seen multiple periods of ebb and flow, reflecting the development dynamics and market demand of their respective ecosystems.
As early as September 2019, Ethereum's daily transaction fees first surpassed Bitcoin's due to the migration of the stablecoin Tether from the Omni protocol (based on Bitcoin) to the Ethereum network. In June 2020, Ethereum's daily network fees once again exceeded Bitcoin's for several days, with Ethereum's daily fees approaching $500,000, while Bitcoin's were around $308,000.
NFT Boom and High Fees
During the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) boom from 2021 to 2022, the Ethereum network experienced unprecedented congestion as it served as the primary platform for NFT issuance and trading. At that time, Ethereum's average transaction fees repeatedly surged above $100, even reaching an extreme peak of $53.16 on May 10, 2021, and touching an average high of $42.15 in November 2021, imposing heavy transaction costs on users.
Recent Total Fee Revenue and Bitcoin's Brief Overtake
In terms of annual total fee revenue, Ethereum demonstrated strong fee-generating capabilities in 2024. Throughout the year, the Ethereum network collected approximately $2.48 billion in transaction fees, averaging about $6.79 million per day. In contrast, Bitcoin collected approximately $922.89 million in total fees during the same year. This indicates that Ethereum maintained its lead in total fee revenue in 2024.
Notably, the Bitcoin network also had periods where its transaction fees surpassed Ethereum's. For instance, from December 14, 2023, to January 3, 2024, Bitcoin transaction fees continuously exceeded Ethereum's for three weeks. Furthermore, after the launch of the Bitcoin Runes protocol on April 20, 2024, Bitcoin's average transaction fees briefly reached an all-time high of $127.97.
Current Fees at Historical Lows
However, the latest data as of June 2026 shows that both Bitcoin and Ethereum network fees are at historical lows. Ethereum's average simple transfer fee is approximately $0.02, while Bitcoin's average fee ranges between $0.03 and $0.10. This means that Ethereum's transaction costs are currently lower than Bitcoin's.
The significant drop in Ethereum fees is primarily due to:
- Successful scaling and adoption of Layer 2 solutions: Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism have significantly reduced congestion on the Ethereum mainnet by offloading most transactions for off-chain processing, thereby lowering transaction costs.
- EIP-1559 upgrade: The EIP-1559 upgrade, activated by Ethereum's London hard fork in August 2021, introduced a structured fee model including a base fee (burned) and a priority fee (paid to validators). This made Gas prices more predictable and, to some extent, mitigated fee volatility.
Transaction fees are a critical factor in incentivizing Bitcoin miners and Ethereum validators to confirm transactions and add them to the blockchain. For users, the level of fees directly impacts transaction costs and processing speed. The current low fees on both networks provide users with a more economical transaction environment.
