⛽Gas Fees Now

Gas is a fee you pay to use a blockchain network. Just like your car needs fuel to run, blockchain transactions need "gas" to be processed.

Every action on a blockchain—sending tokens, swapping currencies, minting NFTs, or using applications—requires computational resources. Gas is how users pay for these resources.

Without a gas system, people could spam the network with endless transactions, causing congestion and making the blockchain unusable. Gas ensures that people only submit transactions they truly value.

Understanding how gas works requires knowing two key components:

• Gas Units: The amount of computational resources your transaction requires. Different actions need different amounts of gas units:
  • Simple transfer of ETH: 21,000 gas units
  • Complex interactions with applications: Can be 100,000+ gas units
• Gas Price: How much you're willing to pay for each unit of gas. This is typically measured in "gwei" (we'll explain what gwei is next).

Total Transaction Fee = Gas Units × Gas Price

For example, if your transaction needs 21,000 gas units, and the current gas price is 20 gwei, you would pay: 21,000 × 20 gwei = 420,000 gwei (or 0.00042 ETH).

"Gwei" stands for "giga-wei" and is a small denomination of cryptocurrency used to express gas prices. Using gwei makes the numbers more manageable:

• 1 gwei = 0.000000001 ETH (on Ethereum)
• 1 gwei = 0.000000001 MATIC (on Polygon)
• 1 gwei = 0.000000001 BNB (on BNB Chain)

Instead of saying "your gas price is 0.000000020 ETH per unit," we simply say "your gas price is 20 gwei." This is similar to how we use cents instead of fractions of a dollar.

Gas prices aren't fixed—they change constantly based on network demand, similar to how airplane ticket prices change based on demand for flights. Here's why:

• Limited Space: Each blockchain can only process a limited number of transactions at once (in "blocks").
• Competing Transactions: When many people want their transactions processed at the same time, they bid higher gas prices to incentivize validators to include their transactions first.
• Network Activity: During popular NFT launches, market volatility, or trending applications, gas prices can spike dramatically as users compete for limited block space.
• Time of Day: Gas prices often follow patterns, with higher prices during business hours in major time zones and lower prices on weekends.

This is why a transaction might cost $2 in gas one day and $20 the next—the underlying blockchain hasn't changed, but the demand for using it has.

Each blockchain has its own native currency used to pay for gas:

• Ethereum uses ETH for gas payments
• Polygon uses MATIC
• BNB Chain uses BNB
• Avalanche uses AVAX

These are called "native currencies" because they're built into the blockchain itself. Even if you're using other tokens (like USDC or SHIB), you still need the native currency to pay for gas.

Some blockchains (like Polygon and Avalanche) were specifically designed to have lower gas fees than Ethereum, which is why users sometimes choose these "Layer 2" or alternative networks for frequent transactions.

There are several strategies to reduce what you pay in gas:

• Wait for Lower Prices: Use this dashboard to monitor gas prices and transact when they're lower.
• Use Gas-Efficient Networks: Consider using Layer 2 networks like Polygon, Arbitrum, or Optimism for lower fees.
• Batch Transactions: Instead of making multiple small transactions, combine them when possible.
• Set Gas Limits Carefully: Most wallets automatically suggest appropriate gas limits, but understanding them helps avoid overpaying.
• Prioritize Important Transactions: Pay higher gas prices only for time-sensitive transactions.

In 2021, Ethereum updated its gas system with an improvement called "EIP-1559." This changed how gas fees work:

• Base Fee: A minimum fee that everyone must pay. This fee is "burned" (destroyed forever), reducing the total supply of ETH over time.
• Priority Fee (Tip): An optional extra payment that goes to validators as an incentive to include your transaction sooner.

This model was designed to make gas prices more predictable and transparent, though they still fluctuate based on network demand.

Many other EVM-compatible blockchains have adopted similar models to improve their gas pricing mechanisms.