How Does a miner’S Choice of Transactions Affect the Overall Network’s Fee Market?

A miner's choice directly influences the fee market by determining the current demand for block space. When miners consistently prioritize high-fee transactions, they signal to users that the cost of block space is high, driving up the competitive fee rate.

Conversely, if miners include low-fee transactions, it can temporarily lower the effective minimum fee required for confirmation. Collectively, miners' profit-maximizing behavior of selecting the highest fee-per-byte transactions sets the prevailing market rate for block space.

This behavior is a key driver of fee volatility.