The comparison
Consolidation costs one transaction now with N inputs and one output at today's rate. Later you spend a single input at the future rate. Without consolidation you would pay for all N inputs at the future rate. The saving is the difference; the break-even rate tells you how high future fees have to be for consolidation to pay off.
consolidate now = (overhead + N ร input vB + 1 output vB) ร rate now
later, merged = 1 input vB ร rate later
later, as is = N ร input vB ร rate later
break-even = consolidation fee รท ((N โ 1) ร input vB)A worked example
Twenty native SegWit coins at 68 vB per input: the consolidation transaction is about 1,402 vB. At 2 sat/vB it costs 2,804 sats. Spending those twenty coins later at 25 sat/vB would cost 34,000 sats for the inputs alone; after consolidation the single input costs 1,700 sats. The saving is close to 29,500 sats, and consolidation pays off as long as future fees exceed about 2.2 sat/vB.
Before you consolidate
- Privacy: a consolidation links all those coins on chain as belonging to one owner. Coins received from different contexts (exchange withdrawals, P2P trades, salary) reveal more together than apart.
- Use a new receive address of the same wallet, and check it on the hardware wallet screen if you have one.
- Pick a quiet period. Weekends and nights (UTC) often have next-block rates of 1โ3 sat/vB.
- Do not include dust deposits from unknown senders โ freeze them instead.
Frequently asked questions
+What is UTXO consolidation?
A transaction that spends many small coins of your wallet into one output on your own address, done when fees are low so that later spending is cheaper.
+When is consolidation not worth it?
When you have only a few coins, when fees now are as high as you expect later, or when keeping coins separate matters for privacy.
+Does consolidation change my balance?
Only by the fee you pay. The coins stay in your wallet, now as one larger coin.
+How many inputs can one transaction have?
Standard transactions are limited to 100,000 vB (400,000 weight units), which is over a thousand SegWit inputs. For very large sets, split the consolidation into several transactions.
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