What Is the “Fee Market” and Why Is Its Development Critical for Bitcoin’s Future?

The fee market is the competitive environment where users bid for the limited space in a block by attaching a transaction fee. Its robust development is critical because, as block rewards diminish to zero, transaction fees must become the sole source of miner revenue.

If the fee market fails to generate sufficient revenue, miners will leave the network, the hash rate will drop, and the security of the Bitcoin network will be compromised due to a lower cost for a 51% attack.