Gas fees

What are gas fees?

Gas fee is a commonly used term for the cost that certain blockchain protocol users pay to network validators each time they wish to perform a function on the blockchain.

Gas fees play an important role by transferring value from those in need of a blockchain network service to those delivering the computing power needed to execute it. Gas fees incentivize validators to accurately process transactions and uphold the security of the blockchain ledger.

Gas fees often come as a surprise to blockchain users. On non-custodial services, where transactions take place directly on the blockchain, gas fees can be wildly unpredictable from one minute to the next.