Bitcoin Core: Transaction Fee Increase Failed – What You Need to Know

As a Bitcoin Core user, you may have encountered the error message “Transaction Fee Increase Failed” when trying to send a transaction with an RBF (Reward Block Fee) confirmation. This issue can be frustrating, especially if it prevents your transactions from clearing the mempool quickly.

In this article, we will go behind the scenes and explore possible solutions to fix the Bitcoin Core “Transaction Fee Increase Failed” error.

What is RBF?

Reward Block Fee (RBF) is a payment mechanism that allows users to receive block rewards for creating new blocks. These rewards are calculated based on the block size, and the amount received depends on the level of network complexity.

Failed to increase transaction fee

When you see the error message “Failed to increase transaction fee” in Bitcoin Core, it indicates that the transaction fee has increased during the transaction processing. This can cause delays in the transaction confirmation process.

Here’s what happens:

• Transaction Creation: You initiate a transaction using RBF.

• Transaction Submission: The transaction is submitted to the mempool for verification.

• Transaction Processing: The transaction is verified and added to the block header.

• Block Creation: A new block is created with the updated block size and difficulty.

• Reward Calculation

  : The reward for creating a new block is calculated based on the block size.

Why does Bitcoin Core say “Failed to increase transaction fee”?

Bitcoin Core may display this error message because it is having trouble calculating the reward amount, which may result in a higher transaction fee. Here are some possible reasons.

• Insufficient funds: If there are insufficient funds for a transaction, Bitcoin Core will attempt to increase the transaction fee.

• Network congestion: If the network is congested or has high fees, it may take longer for transactions to clear into the mempool, causing delays.

• Block size limitations

  

  : Increasing the block size may cause problems with calculating the reward, which may result in a higher transaction fee.

Solutions to resolve the issue

To resolve the “Failed to increase transaction fee” error in Bitcoin Core:

• Check your funds: Make sure you have enough funds to complete the transaction.

• Adjust network fees: Consider reducing or adjusting the block size to see if it improves the transaction confirmation process.

• Wait and try again: Wait a while (up to 10 minutes) and try sending the transaction again with a lower fee.

• Use a different wallet: If you are using the same wallet, try switching to a different one to see if the issue is with your wallet or the blockchain network.

By understanding what is happening behind the scenes and exploring possible solutions, you should be able to resolve the Bitcoin Core error “Transaction fee increase failed”.