I have seen quite a few posts concerned about the "high" transaction fees. I want to provide some perspective to show how these "fees" are actually quite "low".
1. When dealing with a non-stable crypto-currency the "fee" of $0.04 is the least interesting part of the cost. And only applies when the two parties are both willing to remain "long" on BTC. Everyone who is simply using BTC as a payment vehicle rather than a speculative investment sees a fee equal to 2 * spread + volatility risk + 2*market fee + transfer fee. In other words, the "cost" to transfer 1000 stable dollars via BTC or any other crypto-token is easily 1-3% or about $10 to $30.
2. Imagine Lemonade cost just $0.01 in materials. Imagine there was one lemonade stand that charged $0.02 and could barely cover the cost of the table (aka server). The creators of this lemonade hope that low prices will help them dominate the beverage market. Now imagine an Ice Tea vendor opens up down the street with materials that cost $0.01. This Ice Tea vendor decides to charge $0.20 for a drink and offers its customers an opportunity to earn money by referring friends and coming up with creative advertising. Customers see an offer for $.20 and compare it to the Coke they are use to paying $0.40 for and conclude "what a deal", "tastes great, less fattening, half price!". The value of a refreshing drink is easily worth $0.40 and now they can get it for $0.20. So they switch to Ice Tea and happily pay $0.20. Ice Tea goes viral and gains the network effect while Lemonade waits and hopes people will discover their service.
The thing to remember is that lower prices isn't always better. We provide a huge value to our users every time they make a transfer and while they are holding their money on the blockchain. The customers also benefit from the referral program because it means a large and growing network. So the customers must ask which they would rather have low transaction fees with poor network effect or high fees with larger network. Time and again the market has shown that customers are willing to pay more to be part of a larger network.