Coinbase rolls out Bitcoin batching, says users could save over 50% on transaction fees

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has finally enabled the Bitcoin transaction batching feature on its platform.

As the name suggests, the feature allows batching multiple transactions into one, and therefore, helps reduce the load on the Bitcoin network. Lower the load, more block space, and lower transaction fees.

"Historically, every time a Coinbase customer sent bitcoin, we broadcasted a single on-chain transaction. Starting today, we will be bundling multiple sends into a single transaction," said Eli Haims, product manager at Coinbase, in a blog post on Thursday.

"We anticipate that this will reduce our load on the Bitcoin network by more than 50%, and the network fees our customers pay will automatically be reduced by an equivalent amount when sending," Haims added. 

The new feature, however, appears to have come delayed. Coinbase initially hinted its plan for the batching in 2018.

Last June, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also tweeted that "batched transactions should be coming out in a few months. Embarrassing how long it has taken."

Indeed, some people have expressed their criticism. One person, for instance, tweeted: "Did you forget to automatically publish this in 2016? It's 2020 now, you know?"

While some other people noted that bitcoin transaction fees are currently already lower, meaning the feature could have been more useful if it was launched sooner. "Imagine being proud of rolling out tx batching 2.5 years after the fee crunch," one person tweeted.

Average transaction fees on the Bitcoin network are currently around $0.30 per transaction, according to CoinMetrics.

Haims said transaction batching could help make bitcoin "more usable" by lowering network fees and freeing up space on the blockchain. "This enables the network to increase transaction throughput, and helps to increase scalability," he added.

The new feature is being rolled out for both Coinbase and Coinbase Pro platforms.

Notably, Coinbase isn't the first exchange to enable bitcoin transaction batching. Kraken, Bitfinex, Shapeshift and some other exchanges already offer the feature, according to CoinMetrics.