Gas Fees Explained: Blockchain Transaction Costs
Gas fees are the cost to execute operations on a blockchain — like fuel for transactions. Ethereum mainnet gas is expensive; Layer2 networks cut costs by 90%+.
TL;DR
Gas fees are the cost to execute operations on a blockchain — like fuel for transactions. Ethereum mainnet gas is expensive; Layer2 networks cut costs by 90%+.
How Gas Fees Are Calculated
Ethereum gas fee = Gas Used × Gas Price (Gwei). Gas Used: operation complexity (simple transfer = 21,000 gas; complex contract interaction = 100,000+ gas). Gas Price (Gwei): what you pay validators — higher during congestion (1 Gwei = 0.000000001 ETH). EIP-1559 (2021) introduced Base Fee (auto-priced by protocol) + Tip (priority). Example: ETH transfer, Gas Used = 21,000, Gas Price = 20 Gwei → fee = 21,000 × 20 Gwei = 420,000 Gwei = 0.00042 ETH ≈ $1.50 (ETH = $3,500).