Calculating Bitcoin Miner Fees with Mempool.space Guide

With the recent surge in bitcoin prices over the past few months, one significant outcome has been the considerable delays in transaction confirmations when sending at previously standard fees. I’ve experienced this firsthand at least twice this year, facing stuck transactions that lingered for around two weeks in the mempool before I could resend them. Fortunately, Trezor Suite has recently rolled out a replace by fee feature that helps mitigate this issue.

For quite a while, I’ve relied on Ethereum Gas Station to determine suitable custom fees for Ethereum transactions. However, finding an equally user-friendly platform for bitcoin proved challenging. Many wallets impose fixed miner fees or offer a limited selection, which, in a congested network, can lead to overpaying, particularly when I’m not in a rush for immediate confirmation, aiming instead for a response within a reasonable day or so.

While exploring different block explorers, I had a breakthrough moment when I stumbled upon Mempool.space. This free, open-source block explorer and fee visualization tool features a vibrant color scheme that makes it straightforward to pinpoint where any fee stands within the approximately 600MB bitcoin transaction mempool. Its homepage provides a simple view of the top few megabytes of the mempool, recommending a fee if you wish to see your transaction in the next block, and offering another for a confirmation within a few blocks. Additionally, it presents visually appealing graphs that display trends over time, allowing you to gauge the mempool size, the volume of pending transactions, and choose a fee that balances prompt confirmation against the risk of being stuck for an extended period.

The platform includes a standard block explorer, which allows you to see mined blocks and explore transactions and wallet addresses. Being an open-source project, you can access its GitHub repository at https://github.com/mempool/mempool. It also features an API that can be integrated into various software, including Electrum wallet. Best of all, it’s ad-free and even offers a TV mode for display on a screen if desired.

If you’re interested in determining the optimal fee for sending a bitcoin transaction, visiting and bookmarking mempool.space is certainly worth your time!