Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Bitcoin back in the day the best way to send money around because there was next to nothing for a fee?
Is it that the fee is static and since Bitcoin has gone up in value so much that now its a 4.95 fee?
That's part of the problem. The other part is that more transactions are being sent now than there was in the past and thus zero fee transactions are no longer included in mined blocks. The only way to insure your transaction is included is by paying a large enough fee.
The fee isn't static. Most wallets allow you to choose a fee or pays a mandatory one but as the price of bitcoin has raised so has the fee in relation to dollars.
I remember for years all the Bitcoin devs claim that people in Africa need to pay high fee for Western Union when their family send them money.
Guess what? the irony.
Bitcoin can take hours to transfer and fee is $4.95 for even 1 cent.
WU takes less then 10 minutes and fee is $4.95 for $50
And just to get it right, Western Union is the most expensive service in the world, Bitcoin marketers used them as an example of why Bitcoin is the future.
So sadly, right now Bitcoin is the most expensive money service in the world, insane.
There is going to be big fall soon.