<p>As of this writing, the average bitcoin transaction fee is over $30, according to <a href="https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bitcoin-transactionfees.html#3m" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this chart</a>. However, I just bought $20 worth of bitcoin from an ATM, and they charged me a fee of around $2.00.</p>

<p>My understanding of the fee for a transaction is that it is a function of market forces, the number of bytes in the transaction, and the time you are willing to wait for your transaction to be added to the blockchain. Overall however, I had the impression that at a given time these fees are relatively constant per transaction. So I would expect that the owners of the ATM would have to spend something around $30 in fees to give me my $18.00.</p>

<p>I asked a <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66079/how-can-coinbase-charge-less-than-the-average-transaction-fee/">similar question</a> about coinbase.  In that case the explanation was that coinbase wasn't actually transferring any bitcoin on the blockchain.  However, this ATM printed me a new wallet, which I assume means a new bitcoin address was created and bitcoin was transferred to it on the blockchain.</p>

<p>What don't I understand?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-22T16:25:32.103Z
How long did it take before the transaction was confirmed?
Monstrum
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-22T16:36:33.323Z
Maybe they want to gain trustworthiness and provide maximum value to their customers. Also GDAX(they are Coinbase dedicated exchange) doesn't charge network fee at all, I see it as as strategy to create pleased customers. No one really know what they are up to.
Chak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-22T17:16:33.760Z
What exchange rate did they give you?  If the Market rate at the time was $15,000 USD : 1BTC, but this ATM charged $16,500 USD : 1BTC, then they charged you a premium in the exchange rate, not the "fees".
abelenky
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-27T19:45:09.573Z
@Monstrum it looks like it took about 3 hours to be included on the block chain.  The fees are indeed more than the bitcoin transacted.
Josh Brown Kramer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-12-27T19:48:36.960Z
@abelenky The order of magnitude you have there is about what they charged me in the exchange rate.  However, the fees that the ATM owners paid the miners - when converted to USD using the exchange rate that google reports - were still more than the amount I put into the ATM.
Josh Brown Kramer
<transaction-fees><bitcoin-atm>
How can a bitcoin ATM charge less than the average bitcoin transaction fee?
Josh Brown Kramer
# How can a bitcoin ATM charge less than the average bitcoin transaction fee?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-12-22)

As of this writing, the average bitcoin transaction fee is over $30, according to [this chart](https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bitcoin-transactionfees.html#3m). However, I just bought $20 worth of bitcoin from an ATM, and they charged me a fee of around $2.00.

My understanding of the fee for a transaction is that it is a function of market forces, the number of bytes in the transaction, and the time you are willing to wait for your transaction to be added to the blockchain. Overall however, I had the impression that at a given time these fees are relatively constant per transaction. So I would expect that the owners of the ATM would have to spend something around $30 in fees to give me my $18.00.

I asked a [similar question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/66079/how-can-coinbase-charge-less-than-the-average-transaction-fee/) about coinbase. In that case the explanation was that coinbase wasn't actually transferring any bitcoin on the blockchain. However, this ATM printed me a new wallet, which I assume means a new bitcoin address was created and bitcoin was transferred to it on the blockchain.

What don't I understand?

**Tags:** transaction-fees, bitcoin-atm

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: How long did it take before the transaction was confirmed?  
> **username_2**: Maybe they want to gain trustworthiness and provide maximum value to their customers. Also GDAX(they are Coinbase dedicated exchange) doesn't charge network fee at all, I see it as as strategy to create pleased customers. No one really know what they are up to.  
> **username_3**: What exchange rate did they give you?  If the Market rate at the time was $15,000 USD : 1BTC, but this ATM charged $16,500 USD : 1BTC, then they charged you a premium in the exchange rate, not the "fees".  
> **username_0**: @username_1 it looks like it took about 3 hours to be included on the block chain.  The fees are indeed more than the bitcoin transacted.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 The order of magnitude you have there is about what they charged me in the exchange rate.  However, the fees that the ATM owners paid the miners - when converted to USD using the exchange rate that google reports - were still more than the amount I put into the ATM.  

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## 0 answers

