<p>The problem with sendtoaddress is that the transaction size isn't known in advance.  It may be that by adding a fee, you are needing to include a new input in the transaction, but inputs are the largest and therefore the most expensive part of the transaction, so that makes it still more expensive.  That would be most likely if you have a lot of addresses with small amounts in them.</p>

<p>Also, <code>settxfee</code> sets the fee <em>per KB</em>, but from a quick review of the code, that message seems to be printing an absolute amount rather than a rate per KB.</p>

<p>You may want to adjust the settings described here:</p>

<p><a href="https://bitcoin.org/en/release/v0.12.0#wallet-transaction-fees" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bitcoin.org/en/release/v0.12.0#wallet-transaction-fees</a></p>

<p>For complete control, you can use <code>createrawtransaction</code>/<code>fundrawtransaction</code>, or use an external system (e.g., <a href="https://coinb.in/#newTransaction" rel="nofollow noreferrer">coinb.in</a>) to create the transaction and just sign it using your core wallet.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-08T09:13:09.480Z
Thanks Tim. I solved the initial transaction by setting a crontab script to run every hour until sent with zero tx fee, it got sent yesterday. I just tried your solution with another transaction a minute ago and it worked fine. Thanks again.
Nick M
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-11-07T00:37:13.253Z
2017-11-07T00:58:34.767Z
2017-11-07T00:58:34.767Z
Tim Sylvester
<p>I am using bitcoin-0.13.0 and trying to send 0.035 btc to someone.</p>

<pre><code>./bitcoin-cli [auth] sendtoaddress XXX 0.035
</code></pre>

<p><em>Error: This transaction requires a transaction fee of at least 0.00150835 because of its amount, complexity, or use of recently received funds!</em></p>

<p>Then I try to set the fee:</p>

<pre><code>./bitcoin-cli [auth] settxfee 0.00150835
</code></pre>

<p><em>=> true</em></p>

<p>... and try to send again:</p>

<pre><code>./bitcoin-cli [auth] sendtoaddress XXX 0.035
</code></pre>

<p><em>Error: This transaction requires a transaction fee of at least 0.00187149 because of its amount, complexity, or use of recently received funds!</em></p>

<p>.. and this keeps going on and on and on with various random values being output as required transaction fees regardless how many times I set the tx fee.</p>

<p>There have been no transactions in my wallet for some 4+ days.</p>

<p>I thought the transaction fees were optional? now this is becoming more and more like my bank charging a fee on each wire?</p>

<p>What am I doing wrong?</p>

<bitcoind><transaction-fees><bitcoin-cli>
Transaction fee required by bitcoin-cli keeps increasing as I increase the fee
Nick M
# Transaction fee required by bitcoin-cli keeps increasing as I increase the fee

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-11-05)

I am using bitcoin-0.13.0 and trying to send 0.035 btc to someone.
./bitcoin-cli [auth] sendtoaddress XXX 0.035

Error: This transaction requires a transaction fee of at least 0.00150835 because of its amount, complexity, or use of recently received funds!
Then I try to set the fee:
./bitcoin-cli [auth] settxfee 0.00150835

=> true
... and try to send again:
./bitcoin-cli [auth] sendtoaddress XXX 0.035

Error: This transaction requires a transaction fee of at least 0.00187149 because of its amount, complexity, or use of recently received funds!
.. and this keeps going on and on and on with various random values being output as required transaction fees regardless how many times I set the tx fee.
There have been no transactions in my wallet for some 4+ days.
I thought the transaction fees were optional? now this is becoming more and more like my bank charging a fee on each wire?
What am I doing wrong?

**Tags:** bitcoind, transaction-fees, bitcoin-cli


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-11-07. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The problem with sendtoaddress is that the transaction size isn't known in advance. It may be that by adding a fee, you are needing to include a new input in the transaction, but inputs are the largest and therefore the most expensive part of the transaction, so that makes it still more expensive. That would be most likely if you have a lot of addresses with small amounts in them.

Also, `settxfee` sets the fee *per KB*, but from a quick review of the code, that message seems to be printing an absolute amount rather than a rate per KB.

You may want to adjust the settings described here:

<https://bitcoin.org/en/release/v0.12.0#wallet-transaction-fees>

For complete control, you can use `createrawtransaction`/`fundrawtransaction`, or use an external system (e.g., [coinb.in](https://coinb.in/#newTransaction)) to create the transaction and just sign it using your core wallet.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks Tim. I solved the initial transaction by setting a crontab script to run every hour until sent with zero tx fee, it got sent yesterday. I just tried your solution with another transaction a minute ago and it worked fine. Thanks again.  

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