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Like any vehicle, the Ethereum network needs fuel for its secure operation. We know it as gas. As Ethereum gains popularity, more decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions are adopting it. Unfortunately, due to the congestion of so many DApps and individual users, this gas fee keeps increasing.
So, what is an Ethereum gas fee, and how can you save money on them?
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What Are Ethereum Gas Fees, and Why Are They So High?
The Ethereum gas fee is the charge you pay when performing any transaction on the Ethereum blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain operation requires a certain amount of computational effort, which cryptocurrency miners perform using Ethereum mining software.
To keep the Ethereum network operational and secure, miners receive ETH (the crypto coin of Ethereum) as a reward for their contribution to the network. The ETH coin rewards come from the gas fee. Gwei is the denomination of the gas fee, and one gwei equals 0.000000001 ETH.
Cryptocurrency transactions are grouped in what is known as a block. Block size varies between blockchains. For example, Bitcoin's block size has a theoretical limit of 4MB but averages closer to 1MB.
Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum's block size varies based upon the amount of gas spent per block rather than a data limit. Currently, there is a 30 million gas limit per block, but the target size is 15 million gas per block. But effectively, your transaction "competes" with others to feature in the next block sent to the network for validation. So, your competitor might pay a priority fee (tip) to increase the chance of pushing their transaction ahead of yours, increasing the gas fee.
This "competition" of transactions due for network validation happens due to "network congestion" on the Ethereum blockchain. Network congestion occurs when more and more transactions use the Ethereum network for validation.
Transactions are increasing because the Ethereum public blockchain has gained widespread success in decentralized processes like decentralized exchanges (DEX), DeFi, blockchain games, social, ERC-20 token transfers, and marketplaces.
Furthermore, DApps are also introducing new features, and thus their functionalities become complex. Consequently, a smart contract has to perform more operations than before. Hence, the already limited ETH blocks become more congested because complex transactions take up more space.
So, how can you reduce your Ethereum gas fees?
1. Use Simulation Through DeFi Saver
You don't know the actual gas fee until you carry out the transaction and pay for the gas. However, you could use the DeFi Saver app to simulate your transactions. First, you'll create a recipe for Ethereum activities and then run it virtually.
The real-life simulation will tell you the estimated and maximum gas fee in ETH. You can then customize your entire recipe to minimize the gas fee. Now, execute this recipe on the Ethereum platform to pay less gas fee.
2. Transaction Timing Optimization
The primary cause of higher gas fees is congestion. However, the traffic of transactions on Ethereum varies throughout the day. At times, you may see a lower gas fee for the same transaction that was costing you more ETH a few hours ago.
But, finding out about such times could be tedious. It'll also hamper your productivity as you need to keep checking gas fees at different hours. Therefore, you can visit the Ethereum Gas Charts webpage for an elaborate graph of gas prices throughout the week.
Another trick you can play is to avoid the working hours on weekdays. Even if you need to send a transaction on weekdays, execute that after midnight. You might want to wait for weekends as that's when gas prices are low.
3. Organize Transaction Types
The gas fee varies with the type of transaction on the Ethereum blockchain. Therefore, you might want to organize and execute similar transactions together to save money on the gas fees.
Let's consider you've got two Ethereum addresses with 1,000 tokens on each account. Now, you plan to lock all of the tokens in a vault of a new DApp to earn better returns. You can transfer all tokens to one address and then lock 2,000 tokens in one transaction to save money on gas fees.
4. Use DApps Offering Discounts and Rebates on Ethereum Gas Fees
There are Ethereum projects and DApps offering gas fee subsidies or minimal gas fees than the market.
One such platform is Balancer. It offers a gas fee refund of up to 90% in the form of the BAL token. For high-frequency traders, Balancer minimizes the gas fee substantially by executing trades without leaving the vault.
Some DeFi apps like KeeperDAO and Yearn's V2 Vaults batch individual user transactions together. Every user pays the gas fee together at once instead of individual payments. This strategy significantly lowers the gas fee.
5. Utilize Gas Tokens
When you delete your storage variables on the Ethereum network, you can earn ETH as refunds. It's the basis of gas tokens. You can mint a substantial amount of gas tokens when the gas fees are low.
When you need to execute your transaction on the network, redeem your gas tokens for ETH. Use rewarded ETH towards the gas fee. GasToken.io is a popular project that enables you to mint gas tokens.
6. Assess Network Congestion to Plan Ahead
Your task could be on hold when there are too many transactions in the pipeline. The gas fee that you agreed upon has already increased during this hold period. When miners start to execute your transaction, it'll fail as you have set up a gas limit below the current rate.
What is more worrying is that you'll end up paying a gas fee for an unfinished transaction. Hence, planning ahead is the key to gas fee savings and avoiding penalties. Plan your Ethereum transactions during non-peak hours.
For time-sensitive transactions, keep an eye on the Gas Price by Time of Day chart on Ethereum Gas Charts to know the live pricing of gas fees based on the local timezone. Estimate the gas fee accurately and set the correct gas limit to avoid unnecessary fines.
7. Calculate Ethereum Gas Fees Accurately
Your Ethereum wallet may not offer accurate estimates of gas fees because it doesn't consider real-time transaction congestions. For time-sensitive transactions, you may want to refer to specialized tools like Etherscan's Gas Tracker or Gas Now.
These tools analyze the pending transactions on the mainnet Ethereum. Then they offer multiple time-sensitive gas fee estimates. Ultimately, you don't end up paying more than you should or paying fines for not setting correct gas limits.
8. Explore Ethereum Layer-Two Solutions
Transactions on the Ethereum Mainnet (layer-one) are expensive due to congestion. There are layer-two solutions that help users in scaling up the transactions.
Layer-two employs technologies like Rollups or moving transactions to the sidechains on this network. Therefore, this new process reduces gas fees and expedites transaction completion. Optimism and Arbitrum, and Polygon are layer-two scaling solutions that you should check out.
Will Ethereum 2.0 Reduce Gas Fees and Make Ethereum Cheaper to Use?
The long-awaited Ethereum 2.0 upgrade should reduce Ethereum gas fees. In fact, gas fee reduction is one of the primary reasons behind the upgrade, as part of an overall push to reduce Ethereum transaction congestion and speed up the Ethereum blockchain.
There are two driving forces behind gas fee reduction on Eth 2.0: blockchain sharding and the switch from proof of work to the proof of stake consensus algorithm.
The process of sharding involves splitting a blockchain into several "shards." The process itself involves a few steps, including the horizontal partitioning of databases, through which each blockchain is given its own role or purpose. For instance, one blockchain might be used to store data on a given token, while another might be used for network governance.
And, as for the switch to proof of stake, quite simply not having to solve complex mathematic problems to prove network integrity reduces transaction fees while making it easier for additional nodes to join the network and process transactions. It's a win-win situation that should further reduce Ethereum gas fees, in turn helping to scale the Ethereum blockchain.
Reduce Your Ethereum Gas Fees
The Ethereum network can process up to 15 transactions per second. Since the demand is higher than this number, there is brutal competition. Larger organizations tend to outbid individuals and gain access to the transaction blocks ahead of you.
However, you can go through the above tips and tricks to pay less on Ethereum gas fees while minting your NFTs or transferring tokens as fast as possible.
FAQs
Top 10 Ways to Reduce Ethereum Transaction Fees
- Use Simulation Through DeFi Saver.
- Use a Layer-2 Blockchain.
- Pick your transaction times carefully.
- Use DApps That Offer Rebates and Discounts.
- Sort Transaction Types.
- Compare rates when buying ETH or ERC-20 tokens.
- Utilize Gas Tokens.
While using Metamask, it is advised to tap the “Low” option when choosing the gas fees. You can do this before finalizing the transaction. Here, you can customize the gas fees limit. For this purpose, you need to tap on the “Advanced Option”.
What time of day is ETH gas cheapest? ›
When are the Ethereum gas fees the lowest? Between 2 and 6 PM UTC,Ethereum transaction fees are the highest. The best times to do Ethereum transactions are early in the morning,between 1:00 and 2:00 UTC,or late at night,between 9:00 and 11:00 UTC.
What happens if you don t have enough eth for gas fees? ›
If you don't have enough ETH, you can click 'Buy Ether' to replenish your wallet. You can also learn more about the way gas works in our What is Gas article, but generally, a standard ETH transaction will take a gas limit of 21000 and sending tokens will require 50000 gas - 100000 gas .
What is the cheapest way to send ETH? ›
The cheapest ways to send ETH to your Trust Wallet would be either via Gemini or the FTX App. This is because both of these platforms do not charge any withdrawal fees for ERC20 withdrawals.
How can I reduce my NFT gas fees? ›
Gas fees are generally cheaper on weekends and nights.
- Setting a lower gas limit is one of the most straightforward ways to reduce fees.
- Lazy minting removes upfront costs for minting an NFT. No fees are paid until a creation sells.
- Gas fees are generally cheaper on weekends and nights.
MetaMask will provide you with three options when setting the gas fee: “Low“ (previously “Low”): is much lower than market prices and it allows a user to pay a lower fee when they are willing to wait a longer time, for example when withdrawing funds or other non-time sensitive transactions.
How much is MetaMask swap gas fee? ›
A service fee of 0.875% is automatically factored into each quote, which supports ongoing development to make MetaMask even better.
How much is MetaMask gas fee? ›
A normal transaction sending ETH or a token normally costs 21,000 gas, whereas an ERC-20 token approval requires 45,000. Many networks, such as EVM-compatible blockchain Harmony, use an identical model in which standard transactions also cost 21,000 gas.
What day of the week is ETH lowest? ›
The best time to make an ETH transaction is on a Saturday or Sunday from 2AM to 3AM (EST)—that's when ETH gas prices are at their lowest. On the other hand, the worst times are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the network is at its busiest and gas prices are at their highest.
GWEI to USD
| Amount | Today at 7:12 pm |
|---|
| 1 GWEI | $0.00000196 |
| 5 GWEI | $0.00000979 |
| 10 GWEI | $0.00001958 |
| 50 GWEI | $0.00009791 |
4 more rowsOn weekdays, ETH gas price is lowest from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM (IST)—when most of America is asleep, Europe is just about to start its day. The best time to make an ETH transaction is on a Sunday from 6 AM to 8 AM (IST)—that's when ETH gas prices are at their lowest.
Which wallet has no gas fees? ›
X-wallet offers users the chance to swap tokens with no gas fees while being FULLY traced on-chain!
What is a normal ETH gas fee? ›
Ethereum Average Gas Price is at a current level of 18.91, down from 21.91 yesterday and down from 19.37 one year ago. This is a change of -13.69% from yesterday and -2.36% from one year ago.
What is the max ETH gas fee? ›
A standard ETH transfer requires a gas limit of 21,000 units of gas.
How to buy ETH with lowest fees? ›
Cheapest Way to Buy Ethereum for Metamask
- Kraken. Kraken.com. Trade Minimums. 0.00001 ETH. Trading Fees. ...
- Coinbase. Coinbase.com. Trade Minimums. $1 of ETH. ...
- Uniswap. Uniswap.org. Swap Fees. Between 0.1% and 1% depending on how stable the pairs are. ...
- dYdX. dydx.exchange. Swap Fees. 0% if your 30-day trading volume is under $100k.
3. Is it cheaper to buy ETH on MetaMask or Coinbase? No, buying ETH directly from MetaMask is very expensive. If you wish to buy Ethereum at a lower cost, the best way is to buy from a crypto exchange and then send it to MetaMask using the ERC20 network.
What is the best way to buy Ethereum without fees? ›
BitPay gives crypto enthusiasts a safe, simple and quick way to buy Ethereum. Buy with no hidden fees at competitive rates. After buying Ethereum, manage your assets with the all-in-one BitPay Wallet app featuring industry-leading security. Easily store, swap and spend Ethereum.
What is lazy minting? ›
Lazy minting is a way of creating NFTs that helps minimize the cost and risk associated with traditional minting. It's an innovative way to create digital assets without having to pay any upfront fees. Gas fees and account/marketplace fees are some of the upfront fees we need to pay in traditional minting.
Can I sell my NFT without gas fee? ›
Rarible. Rarible is another extremely popular NFT platform that allows you to sell NFTs without gas fees. Rarible launched its lazy mint capabilities in October of 2021 and, ever since, artists have found tons of value in the Rarible platform as a cost-effective way to sell NFTs.
These actions don't require gas fees:
- Using tools on OpenSea to create a new NFT, also known as "Lazy Minting"
- Creating a collection.
- Account initialization / proxy deployment.
- Listing an NFT at a fixed price.
- Listing an NFT in an auction.
- Reducing the price of an NFT you've listed. ...
- Canceling an offer.
Ethereum gas fees tend to be higher than transaction fees incurred on other blockchains due to the complexity of the network. However, this complexity also makes Ethereum more versatile for a wider range of uses.
How to reduce ETH gas fees on Uniswap? ›
Here are three tips for avoiding high gas fees:
- #1 - Avoid Rush Hour. Cryptocurrency has peak traffic times, too. ...
- #2 - Use Exchanges that Bundle Transactions. Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Uniswap can help save you money on Ethereum gas fees by bundling multiple transactions into one. ...
- #3 - Utilize Layer-2 Solutions.
Please make sure you have the latest version here.
- Confirming an action in the FOAM Map brings up the MetaMask window 'Confirm Transaction'.
- Find 'Gas Fee'.
- Click 'Edit' next to 'Gas Fee' to set a custom Gas Price and Gas Limit.
- Next, you need to find the average Gas Price at that time on the Ethereum network.
The price of gas is dynamic and is essentially a product of demand: the more people that are trying to get their transactions processed by the network, the higher it will be.
How much does MetaMask charge for withdrawal? ›
Do I need to pay for withdrawals? Withdrawals using MetaMask Swaps are subject to: Gas fees. The 0.875% MetaMask Swaps licensing fee.
How much is the one time gas fee on OpenSea? ›
Fees are determined by the marketplace at the time a listing or an offer is created. If a listing or an offer was created using OpenSea, the 2.5% fee will apply.
How much is 21000 gas in Ethereum? ›
21000 Gas is 28.774421 Ethereum.
How is gas fee calculated? ›
The gas fee is calculated using Gas Limit * Gas Price per Unit. 1 So if the gas limit was 20,000 and the price per unit was 200 gwei, the calculation would be 20,000 * 200 = 4,000,000 gwei or 0.004 ETH.
Does Bitcoin have gas fees? ›
Does Bitcoin have gas fees? The term "gas fee" wasn't used in cryptocurrency before Ethereum. Therefore, most people don't refer to the transaction costs on Bitcoin's blockchain as "gas fees." Instead, it's more common to refer to Bitcoin's fees as either "network fees" or "miner fees."
Can Ethereum Crash to Zero? Many experts have shared their views on just how low Ethereum can realistically get, but few have gone so far as to predict a crash to zero. It's important to note here that Ethereum losing the entirety of its value is highly unlikely, and the same goes for other popular coins like Bitcoin.
What time is gas the cheapest? ›
In general, gas prices tend to be lowest at the beginning of the week, on Monday and Tuesday, GasBuddy's lead petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan told Nexstar. As the week goes on, gas prices tend to rise until they reach their most expensive point on the weekend – especially on Friday and Saturday.
What day is crypto cheapest? ›
What is the Best Day of the Week to Buy Cryptocurrency? The best day of the week to buy cryptocurrency is Monday when prices are the lowest. Sunday is the next best day of the week overall. After that, prices rise with Friday being the most expensive day to buy cryptocurrency.
How much is 1 polygon in usd? ›
The current price of Polygon is $0.69 per MATIC.
What is ETH gas right now? ›
Average Ethereum Transaction costs
* At current gas price of 58 gwei.
What is the current ETH fee? ›
Ethereum Average Transaction Fee is at a current level of 0.9769, down from 1.160 yesterday and up from 0.5373 one year ago. This is a change of -15.81% from yesterday and 81.82% from one year ago.
When should I sell my ETH? ›
You might sell ETH if you want to: Adjust your long-term crypto portfolio strategy. Avoid losses in times of sudden price movements. Capture gains from past ETH purchases.
What time is Ethereum most volatile? ›
A market's peak trading hours is typically 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in its local time. These are the trading hours that usually drive the highest trade volume in each region.
What time of day is Ethereum highest? ›
Saturdays and Sundays are the ideal days to make ETH transactions since gas prices are usually at the lowest during these days. Tuesdays and Thursdays, on the other hand, are the busiest days on the network. This is also when gas prices are often at their highest.
What is the cheapest gas blockchain? ›
Top 10 Crypto With Lowest Gas Fees in 2022
- Tron ($TRX) — from $0 fee.
- Stellar Lumens ($XLM) — $0,000002166 fee.
- DigiByte ($DGB) — $0,000002542 fee.
- Ripple ($XRP) — $0,000008367 fee.
- Bitcoin SV ($BSV) — $0,0006 fee.
- Litecoin ($LTC) — $0,021 fee.
- Dogecoin ($DOGE) — $0.04 fee.
- Conclusion.
SKALE is the only blockchain network capable of running an unlimited number of fast, on-demand, pooled-security Blockchains with zero gas fees to end users.
Can I pay gas fee from another wallet? ›
No, one account can't pay the gas fee for another accounts transaction at the lowest level in Ethereum. You would, in most cases, need to transfer the ETH from that account to the account that needs to do the other transaction. However, ERC20 tokens do have the approve and transferFrom methods.
Will ETH 2.0 reduce gas fees? ›
Will the Merge Reduce Ethereum Gas Fees? That's another no. Ethereum's notorious gas fees are unlikely to fall straight after the Merge completes. It won't be until Ethereum 2.0 implements blockchain sharding that users see a reduction in on-chain gas fees.
Who pays Ethereum gas fees? ›
Who Receives Gas Fees? Gas fees go to those supporting and securing the Ethereum network. On Ethereum's execution layer (formerly referred to as Ethereum 1.0), gas fee payouts go to Proof-of-Work (PoW) miners on the Ethereum protocol.
Can gas fees only be paid in ETH? ›
Gas fees are the fees users pay on Ethereum to conduct transactions such as swapping or executing smart contracts. Users can only pay this fee in ether (ETH).
How do I monitor my ETH gas fee? ›
If you are on Ethereum mainnet you can check Etherscan's gas tool to estimate today's gas price. Please note the gas price fluctuates; always refer to the gas station to see the current gas prices. The Ethereum network requires gas to execute transactions.
How much is $200 gas fee in ETH? ›
How much is 200 Gas in Ethereum? 200 Gas is 0.269645 Ethereum.
How much gas fee is 0.05 ETH? ›
How much is 0.05 Ethereum in Gas? 0.05 Ethereum is 37.293109 Gas.
Why my gas fee in MetaMask is so high? ›
The price of gas is dynamic and is essentially a product of demand: the more people that are trying to get their transactions processed by the network, the higher it will be.
Why are ETH gas fees so high on MetaMask? ›
We all know that eth gas prices can be very high at times,but the settings in your MetaMask can increase your gas costs.So why are MetaMask gas fees so high? Simple answer-gas fees are high due to congestion on the Ethereum network.
You just have to add a new network to your Metamask and store ETH there instead of an expensive Ethereum mainnet. Polygon chain is even supported by Coinbase so you can transfer ETH directly from your Metamask to the exchange with minimal fees. How do I deposit an ETH to MetaMask?
How do I fix my MetaMask gas? ›
This means that all the gas units up to the limit you set were used up before the transaction could be fully processed. To avoid another "out of gas" error, you will need to increase the gas limit of your next transaction.
What is the gas price in ETH right now? ›
Ethereum Average Gas Price is at a current level of 18.91, down from 21.91 yesterday and down from 19.37 one year ago. This is a change of -13.69% from yesterday and -2.36% from one year ago.
What is the cheapest gas fee in blockchain? ›
Bitgert chain gas fee is $0.0000000000001. It is the cheapest gas fee in the cryptocurrency industry, which is a zero. The gasless blockchain is the reason why Bitgert has been skyrocketing non-stop for a whole week. Bitgert chain is also the fastest chain at 100k APY, which is faster than Solana.
How much is gwei in usd? ›
The current price of Gwei Token (Forked from WETH10) is $0.00000196 per GWEI. With a circulating supply of 0 GWEI, it means that Gwei Token (Forked from WETH10) has a total market cap of $0.00. The amount of Gwei Token (Forked from WETH10) traded has fallen by $0.00 in the last 24 hours, which is a 0.00% decrease.
What is the max gas limit in Ethereum? ›
A standard ETH transfer requires a gas limit of 21,000 units of gas. For example, if you put a gas limit of 50,000 for a simple ETH transfer, the EVM would consume 21,000, and you would get back the remaining 29,000.
How to send Ethereum without fees? ›
As a result, there is no way to completely avoid gas fees for Ethereum transactions. However, you may be able to reduce the gas fees you pay by using gas tokens like CHI or participating in airdrops that distribute tokens that can be used to pay gas fees.
How to trade Ethereum without fees? ›
Right now, going into 2023, Binance, Binance.US, Bybit, BitMEX, and Robinhood all offer free Bitcoin trading. Meanwhile, Robinhood has commission-free trading on all cryptos! You can also trade crypto stocks like GBTC and ETHE with no fees with stock brokers like Fidelity.
