Fees & Waiting
Two things surprise new people: sending Bitcoin costs a small fee, and it takes a few minutes to arrive. Both are normal. Here is why.
Why a fee?
Think of it like this: The miners (the notebook writers from Lesson 2) do the work of carrying your payment. The fee is a tip for them, like tipping the mail carrier to deliver your package. No tip, no delivery.
When LOTS of people are sending at the same time, everyone tips more to get picked first, so fees go up. When it is quiet, fees are tiny. You can usually choose "fast" (bigger tip) or "slow" (smaller tip).
Why the wait?
After you tap Send, your payment waits to be written into the shared notebook. Each time it gets written and double-checked, that is one confirmation. More confirmations means more sure it is final.
Each "check" is a confirmation. A few confirmations and your Bitcoin is locked in for good.
Remember: A fee is a tip to the miners for carrying your payment. The wait is the network double-checking it. A few minutes and a few confirmations later, it is done and final.
Lesson 6 of 8