Understand one article! What exactly is the Ethereum Gas fee

The Ethereum Gas fee refers to the fees paid when trading or executing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain, which is used to compensate miners for the computing resources consumed by verifying and packaging exchanges. Here is a detailed introduction to it:

Gas concept

Gas can be regarded as the “fuel” in the Ethereum network. Ethereum is regarded as a decentralized computing network. When users send tokens, execute contracts, transfer Ether, or perform other operations, the computer needs to perform calculations and consume network resources. Just as a car requires gasoline to drive, users have to pay a Gas fee to buy "fuel" so that the computer can work for it, and eventually the Gas fee is paid to the miners as a handling fee.

Gas-related important concepts

• Gas Price: That is, the unit price of Gas, in Gwei, 1 Gwei is equal to 0.0000000001 Ethereum. The higher the Gas Price set by the user, the more motivation the miner will have to package its transactions, and the faster the transaction will be confirmed; on the contrary, if the Gas Price is set too low, the transaction may have to wait for a long time to be processed. The default Gas Price of Ethereum is 1 wei.
• Gas Limit: There are two levels of meaning. First, for a single transaction, it refers to the maximum number of Gas that the transaction initiator is willing to pay for the transaction, and the transaction initiator needs to set it when initiating the transaction; second, it is for the Gas Limit of the block, that is, the total amount of Gas that a single block can accommodate is limited. If the actual Gas consumed is less than the set Gas Limit, the miner will only charge the actual Gas consumed, and the remaining Gas will be returned to the user; if the actual Gas consumed exceeds Gas Limit, the transaction will not be executed and will be rolled back to the state before execution. At this time, the miner will charge the product of Gas Price and Gas Limit as a fee.

Calculation and function of Gas fee

• Calculation method: Gas fee is obtained by multiplying Gas Limit and Gas Price. The number of Gas units required to complete a transaction depends on the complexity of the transaction. For example, a simple transfer transaction usually requires 21,000 Gas, while complex operations involving smart contracts require more Gas.
• Function: On the one hand, Gas fees can incentivize miners to maintain the security of the Ethereum network, prompting them to actively verify and package transactions. On the other hand, it also helps prevent network resources from being abused, because users need to pay corresponding fees for their operations, thus avoiding the congestion of a large number of meaningless transactions on the network.