Ethereum Fallback Fees Error in Bitcoin-CLI

As you delve into the world of Bitcoin and Ethereum, you may have encountered an error when using the bitcoin-cli command-line interface (CLI). Specifically, you’re experiencing a fallback fees issue with regular transactions (sendtoaddress). In this article, we’ll guide you through resolving this problem.

Fallback Fees: A Brief Explanation

In Bitcoin and other blockchain networks, “fallback fees” are a mechanism to handle cases where the network is congested or has a high block reward rate. These fees can significantly impact the overall cost of transactions, especially for regular ones like sendtoaddress.

The Error Message

When you run the following command:

bitcoin-cli -regtest sendtoaddress

You should see an error message indicating that the fallback fee is being used to reduce the transaction’s cost. The error message might look something like this:

Error: Fallback fees: $3.00 (0.0001 BTC) deducted, remaining balance: 2.99

Causes of the Error

There are several reasons why you might be experiencing a fallback fees issue with sendtoaddress. Here are some possible causes:

• High block reward rate: If the network is congested or has a high block reward rate, it may lead to increased transaction costs.

• Low balance

  : Insufficient funds in your Bitcoin wallet can result in higher fallback fees being applied.

• Regtest mode

  : When running bitcoin-cli in regtest mode (-regtest), the fallback fee is enabled by default.

Resolving the Error

To resolve this issue, try the following steps:

• Check your wallet balance: Ensure you have sufficient funds in your Bitcoin wallet to cover the fallback fees. You can check your balance using:

bitcoin-cli -regtest walletbalance 0

• Adjust the wallet settings: If you’re running regtest mode, try adjusting the wallet settings by editing the regtest.conf file (available on Linux and macOS). Look for the following options:

• wallet.ticker: Set this to 2 or 1 to disable fallback fees.

• wallet.fallbackfee: Set this to a lower value to reduce the cost of transactions.

Here’s an example of how to modify the regtest.conf file on Linux and macOS:

Linux (e.g., Ubuntu)

nano /etc/regtest.conf


[Wallet]

ticker = 2

fallbackfee = 0.0001

• Change the regtest command: Use the --regtest flag to run bitcoin-cli with fallback fees disabled:

bitcoin-cli --regtest sendtoaddress

• Check for wallet corruption: If none of the above steps resolve the issue, try restarting your wallet or checking its integrity using:

bitcoin-cli -regtest walletcheck 0

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the fallback fees error and send transactions successfully with sendtoaddress in Bitcoin-CLI.