What are gas fees, and why do they change?
Gas measures computational work. On Ethereum, the fee combines a base fee and a priority fee; only the latter goes to the validator.
In brief
Gas measures the computational effort required to execute operations on Ethereum. It is a unit of work, not a currency. The fee comes from multiplying that work by its current price.
A simple ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas. Swaps and minting generally involve more computation and use more gas.
How the fee is calculated
gas used × (base fee + priority fee)
The base fee is set by the protocol. The priority fee, or tip, is an additional payment to the validator. With 21,000 gas, a base fee of 10 gwei and a tip of 2 gwei, the fee is 252,000 gwei, or 0.000252 ETH.
The base fee is burned
The base fee does not go to the validator: it is removed from circulation. The validator receives the tip. EIP-1559 introduced this separation.
The base fee adjusts from block to block with demand. This is why an identical transaction can cost different amounts at different times. A wallet shows an estimate because the fee applicable at inclusion is not yet certain.
What gas does and does not measure
Gas measures computational cost, not a transaction's value or safety. Paying more does not make the underlying contract safer. A low fee does not reveal whether the call is a harmless transfer or a .
Risks
Biggest uncertainty The base fee changes with demand, so a wallet estimate is not a guaranteed final cost.
- An estimated fee is not a final quote.
- A reverted transaction still consumes computation; the gas spent is not refunded.
- A low offered fee can leave a transaction pending.
- The fee does not explain what the transaction authorizes.
What to check
Read the actual call, check the network's current base fee and distinguish the fee from the asset value being transferred. This guide concerns Ethereum. Other networks and Layer 2 fee models, including data publication costs, are outside its scope.
Sources
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