Are these transaction fees from some given pool? What if a pool decides to not have transaction fees? – Leftover Salad – 2013-12-27T10:56:00.087

@LeftoverSalad The transaction fees come from transactions. Each transaction can include a fee that goes to the miner who includes that transaction in a block and miners do not have to include transactions in blocks they mine if they don't want to. – David Schwartz – 2013-12-27T11:51:00.853

Ah, that's what I wasn't getting! Marked as answered. – Leftover Salad – 2013-12-27T11:52:07.023

1@LeftoverSalad There is, of course, a fair question about how well that will work. For example, right after someone finds a block, all the "juicy" transactions will be taken. There may be reduced incentive to mine until more high-fee transactions build up. This is especially true if people conserve electricity by shutting down mining equipment when the reward is too low. – David Schwartz – 2013-12-27T13:10:31.363

That would lead to less than 1 block per 10 minutes and thus a decrease in difficulty. And/or it may lead to people paying a higher fee as to keep the incentive to mine high enough. It's a completely free market mechanism, very transparent and with low barrier to entry for new players (miners). – Jannes – 2014-01-01T05:32:04.987