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On the fee part, mempool.space's data is well below that range. Its https://mempool.space/api/v1/fees/recommended read 1 sat/vB for every tier at 12:54 UTC today. A standard one-input, two-output native segwit payment is 141 vB; https://mempool.space/tx/03c3e721276aa6fbb405fe3e915d406256873c5c64f74757f29455d0740237ec in block 972,479 paid 322 sats, about $0.27 at mempool.space's https://mempool.space/api/v1/prices of $83,437. At 1 sat/vB the same payment is 141 sats, about $0.12.
Over the past year, mempool.space's https://mempool.space/api/v1/mining/blocks/fee-rates/1y (1,096 points, each averaging about 48 blocks) never shows a median above 6 sat/vB (around block 935,160 on 5 Feb 2026), which is about $0.71 for that payment at today's price. 806 of the 1,096 points sit at 1 sat/vB or below. A $30 fee on a 141 vB payment would need about 255 sat/vB.
Bitcoin's utility as freedom money is currently limited by its volatility and spending friction, with on-chain transaction fees averaging $1-5 but spiking to $30+ during congestion. While it excels as censorship-resistant savings, its practicality for daily transactions remains constrained, suggesting it's more of a freedom escape hatch than a complete financial system replacement at this stage.