Bitcoin Miners Are Not ‘Winning’ From High Fees: ShapeShift CEO

ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees has hit out at comments that miners are “winning” from the increase in Bitcoin network fees.

Responding to a Reddit post which noted fees had increased to “40 percent” of the 12 BTC block reward, Voorhees said it was “narrow-minded” to think that miners were on top.

“If BTC price is suppressed because of the scaling conflict (which I promise it is), then high fees in blocks doesn't necessarily surpass losses from mining reward due to price suppression,” he wrote.

“It would be extremely short-sighted and foolish to block progress which enables Bitcoin to scale and become worth $10k+ per coin merely to get marginally more mining fees.”

Such exchanges are typical of the alleged impasse which continues to plague the Bitcoin community. While arguments range variously from frustration similar to Voorhees’ sentiments to those who think the network will continue to cope, recent developments have only served to increase scaling’s prominence.

Specifically, three altcoins have now activated Segregated Witness, with Litecoin set to join SysCoin and Vertcoin in facilitating layer two solutions including Lightning Network instant transactions in the near future.

The changes produced significant price increases for all three assets on a level never seen before.

“Miners are not "winning." While the impasse exists, everyone in Bitcoin is losing. Banks are winning,” Voorhees added.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miners-are-not-winning-from-high-fees-shapeshift-ceo