Why network fees change from hour to hour

A network fee is not a price set by anyone. Block space is limited, transactions bid for it, and the fee is what the auction clears at. When more people want to transact than a block can hold, the clearing price rises.

What moves it

• Congestion. Sharp price moves bring a wave of transactions and fees climb within minutes.
• The chain itself. Bitcoin fees depend on transaction size in bytes. Ethereum fees depend on computation, so a token transfer costs more than sending ether.
• Time of day. Most chains are quieter in the European night, and fees follow.

What you can do

If the transfer is not urgent, wait. Fees often halve within a few hours. If you are moving a stablecoin and have a choice of network, the cheaper chain can save more than the rate difference between any two services.

Network fees are paid to miners or validators, not to Swapcrypts. They are the cost of the chain doing the work.