Here's an interesting snapshot of the Bitcoin blockchain from a few minutes ago:
Quite interesting to observe the transactions and associated fees involved. There appears to be a large number of small-dollar transactions, like this one worth $44.47 with a $27.43 transaction fee. Or the $33.34 one with a $7.05 transaction fee. Or the one at the bottom that's $28.78 with a $9.74 transaction fee. Under what practical circumstances would one want to pay these types of fees with respect to these transaction sizes? I can think of only one - illegal activity? One can't tell about the larger transactions, but the smaller ones definitely seem likely to be for suspect purposes, in my opinion...
-Wayne