In the past few months, the cryptomarket has grown exponentially and with it, almost all cryptocurrencies marked an increase in value. More and more people are drawn to the other alternatives, coins that promise better working models than the current one. As more people exchange Bitcoin for altcoins to invest in, they must pay the Bitcoin network a transaction fee to pass through exchanges. This is one of the main reasons the price of Bitcoin is soaring, among other factors. Lately, these fees have become so expensive, it's unpractical to use Bitcoin for many transactions. And it looks like there is much work to be done before it delivers what it promised.
The miners are betting higher and higher fees and as long as people are paying them the only direction the transaction fees are going is up. Despite the rise of Bitcoin the network is still struggling with fundamental problems like the fact that transaction times have become very slow, the network is becoming highly centralized, and not to mention the amount of electricity the network needs to operate and verify transactions. If Bitcoin is to become the next payment system of the future it has to deliver a superior service than the ones we already use like Visa or PayPal, for example.
Although better alternatives in the crypto world already exist, most of the focus still remains in the hands of the Bitcoin network. In the past couple of months, I've been trying to avoid using Bitcoin as much as possible. If I want to deposit some funds to an address, Bitcoin is my last choice.
