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It is evident something has to be done about the rising bitcoin network transaction fees. Coinbase, a popular exchange and wallet service provider, acknowledges this problem. In fact, the company will no longer pay transaction fees for on-chain transfers come March 21st. The company has paid these fees since its inception, yet the costs have become far too high to sustain this business model.
It is not surprising to learn exchanges will no longer pay network transaction fees. Most exchanges stopped doing so a while ago, yet Coinbase was one of the few companies still supporting this business model. The company does so to support the growth of the bitcoin network as a whole. However, with over 6 million active users, paying these fees is no longer a sustainable business model for Coinbase. When costs outweigh the benefits, it is due time to make some changes.
Coinbase will no longer pay on-chain transaction fees as of March 21. This means the change will go into effect in about a week from now. Future fees will be assigned dynamically based on the current network conditions. Customers will pay this fee every time they execute a bitcoin transaction from their Coinbase wallet. However, every transaction between different Coinbase accounts will remain free of charge. The company completes these transactions in an off-chain capacity, after all.
Other Coinbase Changes Worth Taking Note Of
No longer paying on-chain transaction fees is not the only change coming to Coinbase, though. Bits support will be removed on March 21 as well. Although bits is a somewhat popular bitcoin unit, popularity has waned on the Coinbase platform by the look of things. All existing wallets displaying bits as the default unit of account will revert to BTC in the future. Moreover, supporting bits caused some confusion among novice bitcoin users. Users who transfer funds off Coinbase can still use bits in their other wallet solutions, though.
Last but not least, the company will no longer support user payment pages. These pages are designed to make it easier for Coinbase users to receive bitcoin payments. However, this is another feature that has become virtually redundant over time. The mobile applications offer the same functionality, allowing users to receive bitcoin payments in a convenient manner. It is evident the team focuses a lot of attention on the mobile ecosystem
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