Gas fees — the price of every action

A simple analogy

Gas is like fuel for a car. Every action on a blockchain network (a transfer, a swap, an LP position) needs "fuel". Without it — nothing moves.

What is gas?

Every action on a blockchain network (a transaction) requires computational work. The network's validators (computers) do this work, and you pay them for it — the gas fee.

Gas fees are paid in the network's native currency:

On the Solana network → paid in SOL SOL
On the Ethereum network → paid in ETH ETH
On the Arbitrum network → paid in ETH ETH

Why do prices differ so much?

Network	Typical transaction	Complex action (LP, swap)	Why?
Solana SOL	~$0.001	$0.001–$0.01	Fast, efficient design
Arbitrum ETH	< $0.01	$0.01–$0.05	L2 rollup — cheap and steady
Ethereum mainnet ETH	~$0.01	$0.03–$0.30	Price shifts with network load

How does the Ethereum gas price form?

Ethereum mainnet has limited space in every block. It works like an auction: when a lot of people want to transact at once, whoever offers more gas gets processed first, and the price rises. After the 2024 "Dencun" upgrade (and the blob-capacity increases that followed), space grew considerably, so on a normal day Ethereum costs cents — it only gets expensive during short peak moments. Before a bigger operation, it's worth glancing at etherscan.io/gastracker.

Solana gas — why is it so cheap? SOL

Solana's architecture lets it process hundreds of transactions per second at minimal cost:

Component	Price
Base transaction fee	~~0.000005 SOL (~~$0.001)
Priority fee (for faster processing)	0.00001–0.001 SOL
Rent (creating a new account)	~0.002 SOL (one-time)

Note: Solana has a "rent" system — creating a new token account requires a small deposit (~0.002 SOL). That deposit is refunded when you close the account.

The Ethereum gas system ETH

Ethereum uses the EIP-1559 gas model (a fee mechanism standardized in 2021):

Component	What it is
Base fee	The network-set base price (changes every block)
Priority fee (tip)	An extra fee to the validator for speed
Gas limit	The maximum amount of gas you agree to spend

Formula: Transaction cost = (base fee + priority fee) × gas used

Typical gas usage values

Action	Gas amount	Approximate cost
ETH transfer	21,000	~$0.01
ERC-20 token transfer	65,000	~$0.01–0.03
Uniswap swap	150,000	~$0.03–0.10
Opening an LP position	300,000+	~$0.10–0.30

The prices in the table are for normal network load. During heavy activity (a popular token launch, market panic) the base fee can temporarily jump tens of times over — so check etherscan.io/gastracker before a bigger operation.

How Arbitrum is different

Arbitrum is an Ethereum L2 (a second-layer network, or "rollup"). It bundles up many transactions and sends them to Ethereum mainnet as a single batch. That's why Arbitrum's price stays low and steady (usually < $0.01–0.05) even when mainnet gas temporarily spikes.

Priority fees — faster means pricier

Solana priority fees SOL

When the network is congested (e.g., a popular NFT mint):

You can add a priority fee to get processed faster
Jupiter and other interfaces have a "Priority Fee" setting
The "Medium" level is usually enough

Ethereum priority fees ETH

MetaMask lets you choose: Low / Market / Aggressive
Low: cheaper, but can take several minutes or longer
Market: standard speed, usually ~15–30 sec
Aggressive: pricier, but usually lands in the next block (~15 sec)

What happens when you run out of gas?

Situation	Result	What to do
Not enough gas to start a transaction	Transaction doesn't start	Top up your SOL/ETH balance
Gas runs out mid-transaction (ETH)	Transaction fails, BUT gas is spent	The gas money is lost, but tokens don't change hands
Priority fee too low	Transaction gets stuck "pending"	Increase the fee or wait

Ethereum: a failed transaction still spends gas → check the gas tracker before acting and set a suitable gas limit — that way you only pay for what actually happens
Not enough gas to start a transaction → keep a small reserve of the network's native coin (SOL/ETH), and you'll never get stuck
Priority fee too low — transaction "pending" → MetaMask/Jupiter let you raise the fee any time, or you can just wait

Every one of these situations has a clear solution. It's not a trap — it's a set of parameters you control.

How much to keep in your gas reserve?

Network	Minimum	Recommended	Why more
Solana SOL	0.01 SOL	0.05 SOL	Rent + several transactions
Ethereum ETH	0.001 ETH	0.005 ETH	Gas can spike unexpectedly
Arbitrum ETH	0.0005 ETH	0.002 ETH	Several transactions

A practical rule

When withdrawing crypto from a CEX (Nexo, Kraken), leave a small gas reserve. Once that becomes a habit, doors open: you can freely move crypto, open an LP position, or manage collateral at any time — with no "oh no, I can't afford the fee" moment.

Monitoring gas prices

Tool	Network	Link
Etherscan Gas Tracker	Ethereum	etherscan.io/gastracker
Arbiscan Gas Tracker	Arbitrum	arbiscan.io/gastracker
Solana Fee Tracker	Solana	solscan.io (shows transaction fees)
MetaMask	Ethereum/Arbitrum	Shows the fee directly before you transact

Best time for transactions:

Ethereum gas is usually cheap any time; calmest at night (UTC) and on weekends, while it temporarily rises during peak moments
Solana gas is almost always equally cheap

Summary

	Solana SOL	Arbitrum ETH	Ethereum ETH
Typical price	~$0.001–0.01	< $0.01–0.05	$0.01–$0.30
Paid in	SOL	ETH	ETH
Speed	~2 sec	~2–8 sec	~15 sec–1 min
Reserve	0.05 SOL	0.002 ETH	0.005 ETH

Key rules:

Always keep a gas reserve
For Ethereum operations, Arbitrum remains a good choice — the price stays low and steady even when mainnet gas spikes
A failed transaction on the ETH network — gas is still spent
Solana — gas is practically free

Quick check

Where is gas paid on the Solana network?

Practice task

0 / 5

Check live gas prices on three networks

Gas prices change daily, so the most important skill is learning to check them yourself. This task takes about 10 minutes — nothing to send, just observe.

This is an observation task — nothing to send or confirm. Remember the rule: never spend your entire gas reserve, or you won't be able to make any transaction.

This is learning, not investing — use only small amounts you treat as tuition.

You just read the gas tracker and saw the L2 vs. Solana difference with your own eyes — now network fees aren't a surprise, they're a predictable number you control.

Sending crypto Cashing out to a bank