One remarkable benefit of bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies over traditional forms of payment is its low transaction fee. The Bitcoin network has once again, proven that users can send a huge sum of funds for a meager fee.
According to data on Bitcoin’s blockchain, someone moved a whopping 22,806 BTC valued around over $1.3 billion at press time, for a 0.00017935 BTC fee (less than $11.)
The funds, which were sent to two separate addresses, saw each wallet receive between 1,000 and 21,806.38308916 bitcoins, respectively.
Notably, it is not the first time a large amount of funds will be moved at a low cost. In a similar development, $86.7 million worth of BTC was moved for a $17 fee in 2019.
Try That With Your Bank
Even though the large transaction reported above may likely be from a cryptocurrency exchange wallet, it does not take away the massive benefits associated with adopting digital currencies for transactions.
Considering the volume of the transaction, it will be almost impossible for an individual or organization to move such an amount of funds across borders in the traditional financial settings. If possible, the fees to process a transaction of such magnitude will be on the high side for the archaic financial system.
The transaction may also take between five and ten working days before the recipient may receive the funds in traditional settings, due to several checks from different ends in a bid to identify the legitimacy of the funds.
This lapse in the existing financial space is what Bitcoin is trying to solve. The pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto believes that sending funds across borders should be as easy as sending emails.
Despite the financial freedom bitcoin offers, most regulators have continued to tie the asset class to illicit activities, as they feel it is mostly adopted by criminals.
Although the assertion may be true to an extent, it does not take away the fact that criminals also use fiat for their illicit dealings.
In September 2020, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) stated in a report that criminals mostly adopt traditional techniques like front companies, cash businesses, money mules, and financial representatives, to launder funds.
