Blockstream Green provides you with a number of tools to optimize your transaction cost. The cost of transaction fees varies according to traffic on the Bitcoin network at the time and the data size of your transaction in kilobytes. Fees are paid to the Bitcoin network, not to Blockstream. Note: By default, your Blockstream Green wallet uses a technology called wrapped SegWit, which typically saves you around 30-40% on fees per transaction compared to Bitcoin wallets that use non-SegWit transactions. Create a Native SegWit Account SegWit accounts allow you to segregate your funds and receive on bech32 native SegWit addresses (-bc1 prefix). This account type ensures cheaper transactions when sending bitcoin, but not all services support bech32 addresses yet. Visit this guide to set up a SegWit account. Send Slower Payments Besides default optimizations to minimize your transaction cost, Blockstream Green allows you to control your fees when you send a transaction. You can select from three fee levels: Fast: Targets confirmation within 30 minutes. Medium: Targets confirmation within 2 hours. Slow: Targets confirmation within 4 hours. Note: The confirmation times displayed by your Blockstream Green application are estimates based on network conditions at the time. If you send your transaction during periods of volatile network activity, confirmation times can be slower. To save on Bitcoin transaction fees, you should select the Slow fee level. However, you will need to anticipate long wait times for your transaction to be confirmed (included in a block). Use a Custom Fee If your transaction is not time-sensitive at all, you can manually enter a transaction fee amount that is below the Slow option via the Custom option. But be aware, your transaction could take a very long time to confirm—days, a week, or more! If it’s taking too long, you can always use the Increase Fee feature (see next section). Increase the Fee if Necessary The Increase Fee feature allows you to increase the fee on unconfirmed transactions to speed them up. If you want to save on fees and are happy to actively manage your transaction, a good strategy is to start by sending each transaction with a low fee—sometimes they can be confirmed faster than expected. If you find your transaction is taking too long to confirm, you can use the Increase Fee feature to set a new, higher fee and reduce the time required to confirm. Tip: WhatTheFee provides live Bitcoin fee data that can help you guesstimate the appropriate custom fee rates. Liquid Transactions Transactions on the Liquid Network (L-BTC, USDt, and other Liquid assets) are generally cheaper than Bitcoin transactions: the lowest possible transaction fee on Liquid is 0.1 satoshi/vbyte, which is one-tenth of the minimum fee on Bitcoin.
