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Encyclopedia How the network works · Entry 84

Bitcoin fee rates: sat/vB versus the total fee

AI-assisted research · separate automated verificationCorrections

Theme
How the network works
Sources
3 cited records
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About 3 minutes
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In this article

At a glance

Key facts

Key facts for Bitcoin fee rates: sat/vB versus the total fee
FactDetailSource
Total feeTotal input value minus total output value.[2]
RateTotal fee in satoshis divided by virtual size gives sat/vB.[3][1]
Units1 BTC per 1,000 vbytes equals 100,000 sat/vB.[1]
01

A small calculation prevents a large unit mistake

An illustrative 200-vbyte transaction at 8 sat/vB targets 1,600 satoshis in fees. The same rate on a 400-vbyte transaction targets 3,200 satoshis. The rate is equal; the total cost is not.

Conversely, paying 2,000 satoshis on 200 vbytes gives 10 sat/vB, while paying 2,000 on 400 vbytes gives 5 sat/vB. Comparing total fees alone can therefore be misleading.

02

Read field names and units carefully

The cited Bitcoin Core 29.0 RPC distinguishes fee_rate in sat/vB from feeRate in BTC/kvB. The units differ by a factor of 100,000. A software integration should convert explicitly and reject an ambiguous input.

A wallet’s final fee can also change when coin selection or change construction changes the virtual size. Inspect the funded result, not only the requested rate.

03

A target is not a booking

Fee estimation responds to observed transaction conditions and a desired confirmation target. Future arrivals and miner choices remain uncertain. A higher rate improves one part of the incentive but does not create a reservation.

For an unconfirmed transaction, consider the wallet’s replacement or child-spend options rather than treating a previous fee estimate as a promise.

Direct answers

Questions people ask

Is the fee a percentage of the bitcoin I send?

No. The transaction fee is primarily a size-and-rate calculation, although the selected inputs and outputs must contain enough value to fund it.

Inspect the evidence

The answer and key facts have stable claim links. These records retain the scope and qualification when reused.

A Bitcoin fee rate measures fee paid per unit of transaction size, commonly satoshis per virtual byte. The total fee is the difference between input and output values. An estimated fee rate can inform a target, but it does not guarantee inclusion within a particular number of blocks.

Scope: Bitcoin · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:15:23.891Z.

Link to this claim
Total fee: Total input value minus total output value.

Scope: Bitcoin · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:15:23.891Z.

Link to this claim
Rate: Total fee in satoshis divided by virtual size gives sat/vB.

Scope: Bitcoin · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:15:23.891Z.

Link to this claim
Units: 1 BTC per 1,000 vbytes equals 100,000 sat/vB.

Scope: Bitcoin · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:15:23.891Z.

Link to this claim
Revision history
  1. — Initial Bitcoin encyclopedia entry at this permanent URL.
  2. — Added reusable claims, explicit source locators, and matching Markdown and JSON. This publishing change does not itself establish factual verification.

Source register

Sources and references

Retrieval dates and locators are recorded individually.
  1. walletcreatefundedpsbt RPCBitcoin Core

    Input selection, fee units, change output, selected inputs and transaction funding.

    Locator: Arguments and result fields · Version / scope: Bitcoin Core 29.0.0 RPC · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:03:40.827ZOpen source
  2. Bitcoin Developer Guide: TransactionsBitcoin developer documentation contributors

    UTXO inputs, transaction outputs, change and the difference paid as a fee.

    Locator: P2PKH Script Validation; Transaction Fees And Change · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:03:41.190ZOpen source
  3. Segregated Witness consensus layerBitcoin BIPs contributors

    Transaction weight and virtual-size definitions in the SegWit specification.

    Locator: Block size; Transaction size · Version / scope: BIP-141; immutable revision pinned in source URL · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:22:20.465ZOpen source
How this article was made

Research and drafting use AI assistance. A separate automated review checks claims against primary sources; no external expert or named human review is implied. Publication, substantive editing, source retrieval and verification are recorded separately. This version was independently checked by an automated reviewer on 2 October 2026.

Editorial method and corrections

Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Bitcoin fee rates: sat/vB versus the total fee.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/bitcoin-fee-rate/