The bitcoin price reached new all-time highs on a regular basis this year, but some have pointed to the congestion currently found on the Bitcoin network as a sign that the system will be unable to scale to more users over the long term. According to BitInfoCharts, the median Bitcoin transaction fee on December 30 was $16.04, and there were a few days where it was more than $30 per day earlier in the month. These high fees — or the prediction that fees would eventually go much higher — are what led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash, which is a Bitcoin fork that was created over the summer around the same time that the Segregated Witness improvement was locked-in on the Bitcoin network. Litecoin is another cryptocurrency that has long been marketed as a cheaper alternative to Bitcoin. So why has the bitcoin price continued to rise in the face of less reliable transaction confirmation times and skyrocketing fees when these cheaper alternatives are available?

Source: Forbes January 01, 2018 02:26 UTC