Why is the fee estimation issue getting worse?

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#1Jun 9, 2025, 05:02 PM
I've been using the Bitcoin Core wallet for years, and this 'fee estimation is not currently possible' warning used to show up rarely. Lately, it’s becoming a regular annoyance. What’s going on?
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cobra51Newbie
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#2Jun 11, 2025, 01:09 PM
Are you fully synced? That warning usually pops up if the client doesn’t have enough transactions in the mempool to estimate fees accurately. It might also mean some transactions haven’t been confirmed yet.
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maxi100Newbie
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#3Jun 12, 2025, 03:35 PM
Fee estimation issues are common and they usually get fixed. But the current problems could be on your end. Don’t rely solely on the wallet's estimation, always double-check with some mempool tracking sites.
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mr_apeNewbie
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#4Jun 14, 2025, 12:28 PM
If that method returns zero, you'll see that error in the UI. One major reason could be that you're not fully synced.
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orbit1337Senior Member
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#5Jun 14, 2025, 06:20 PM
I don’t get that issue. My Bitcoin Core runs pretty much all the time, except when my laptop goes to sleep. I often set my fees manually since sites like Johoe's or mempool.space show better data than the wallet.
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gang2015Member
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#6Jun 14, 2025, 10:45 PM
But I’ve noticed that if the mempool is congested with unconfirmed transactions, it can take a while for Bitcoin Core to catch up.
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orbit1337Senior Member
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#7Jun 16, 2025, 12:33 AM
The default mempool size is 300 MB. If you’re running Bitcoin Core daily, it shouldn’t take long to sync with the latest blocks.
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gang2015Member
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#8Jun 16, 2025, 05:26 AM
From my experience, a 300MB mempool shouldn’t be a big deal. If you're getting fewer TXs per second, that can slow things down a lot, especially when there's a ton of unconfirmed transactions.
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cobra51Newbie
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#9Jun 16, 2025, 10:29 AM
It really depends on your connections and how open your peers' mempool policies are. Some platforms like Johoe and Mempool.space are super well-connected.
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0xChadNewbie
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#10Jun 18, 2025, 01:22 PM
To address your specific issue, we’d need more details. Have you updated Bitcoin Core recently? Made any changes in your settings? How often do you usually run it?
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0xNodeMember
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#11Jun 18, 2025, 05:47 PM
If your node isn’t fully synced, you’ll see errors when estimating fees. If you’ve missed a day’s worth of blocks, that can definitely mess with your RPC calls.
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pr0to88Member
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#12Jun 18, 2025, 09:16 PM
Check out this mempool site. It gives a current picture of transactions, but it's a bit behind, usually 2-6 minutes late.
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gang2015Member
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#13Jun 19, 2025, 02:08 AM
That’s a solid suggestion. But I'd suggest using mempool.space for mempool graphs instead since it shows total size, which is more useful than just transaction counts.
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cobra51Newbie
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#14Jun 19, 2025, 03:16 AM
That could be a better way to gauge things. But it really depends on how quickly the mempool fills up, right after a block can look very different than even 10 mins later. Core's estimates are pretty forgiving for newbies who aren’t sure what to do.
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#15Jun 19, 2025, 04:51 AM
A neat trick is to check fee rates just before a dip. It can give you a decent idea of the mempool state before the last block.
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