Is the gas fee so expensive that it hurts? Lao Jiucai teaches you 5 tricks to save 90% of handling fees. A must-read for novices!

Are you new to the cryptocurrency industry and are you scared by Ethereum’s gas fee? When I transferred an account or bought an NFT, I thought it would cost just a few cents, but when I looked at the bill - my dear, dozens of dollars were gone! Why is this thing so expensive? Don't worry, today I will explain it to you in plain English and teach you how to pluck the wool and reduce the handling fee.

To put it bluntly, gas fees are the "tolls" of the blockchain. Without them, the network would have collapsed. But it’s really expensive, especially during the bull market or when popular projects are launched. Miners are rushing to process transactions with high bids, and you have to add money to your order to jump in line.

Next, let’s talk about why the gas fee can skyrocket, and more importantly – how to make it grounded. Whether you are a DeFi novice or an NFT newbie, after reading this article, you will be guaranteed to save money on a hot pot meal.

What is the gas fee? Understand the basics first, don’t be taken advantage of

Gas fee is the transaction fee on Ethereum (and compatible chains like Polygon and BSC). It is not fixed and depends on how complex the transaction is and how congested the network is.

Simply put, whatever you do on the chain—such as transferring money, playing with smart contracts, minting NFTs—you have to burn “Gas”. It’s like a car’s oil, it can’t run without oil.

Why is there a gas fee?

Imagine that the blockchain is a highway. If there is no toll station, junk transactions can block it into a parking lot. The gas fee is the "tip" that allows the miners (now called validators) to prioritize your transactions. Buterin (Vitalik Buterin) came up with this design just to prevent the network from being paralyzed.

There is a formula for calculating gas fees: Gas fee = Gas usage × Gas unit price

Gas Usage: Depends on how complex the transaction is. For a normal transfer, 21,000 Gas is enough; if you go to Uniswap to swap tokens, you may have to spend more than 100,000 Gas.
Gas unit price: The unit is Gwei (1 Gwei = 0.000000001 ETH). This thing is on the market. If you bid higher, the miners will handle it for you first.

If you are a novice using the MetaMask wallet, it will estimate a fee before sending a transaction, and you can adjust it yourself - don't foolishly use the default "fast", that is a pitfall!

Why is the gas fee so ridiculously expensive? The truth is here

It's not because Ethereum deliberately cheats you, it's because of the mechanism and market conditions. Let's break it up and crush it.

1. Once the Internet is blocked, prices will take off.

Ethereum is so popular, with millions of transactions happening every day. Catching up with the NFT project mint (such as the time of Bored Ape) or DeFi exploded, the transaction volume exploded. The miners will definitely take the orders with the higher price first, so why don’t you add money to your gas price? Then just wait, just like taking a taxi during morning and evening rush hours.

2. EIP-1559 upgrade, changed but not completely changed

In August 2021, Ethereum implemented EIP-1559, which split the Gas fee into a "Base Fee" (automatic adjustment by the network) and a "Tip" (Tip, you give extra to the miners). The basic fee will fluctuate according to the block usage rate, and will increase when it is full. This upgrade burned some ETH (deflation), but the fee will still go up when demand is high.

Note to newbies: EIP-1559 makes costs a little more predictable, but congestion problems are still there, so don’t expect it to be a cure-all.

3. The block is so big that it can’t be processed

Each block of Ethereum targets 15M Gas, and the block generation time is 12-15 seconds. The throughput is limited and cannot be compared to Visa's thousands of transactions per second. The TPS (transactions per second) of the Layer 1 chain is only 15-30, while competing chains like Solana can reach several thousand. So it’s no surprise that the charges don’t soar during peak periods.

4. The price of ETH increases, and the USD fee increases accordingly.

Gas fees are calculated in ETH. If the price of ETH doubles (for example, from $1,500 to $3,000), even if Gwei does not change, you will pay more dollars. In addition, as soon as the bull market or regulatory news comes, the demand explodes, and the cost becomes even more difficult to suppress.

5. The more complex the smart contract is, the more gas will be burned.

When playing with lending protocols like Aave, the contract code is complex and the gas usage is large. Some projects are not optimized well and waste gas in vain, which will naturally cost you more money.

Looking back at history, the peak gas fee in 2021 has reached several hundred Gwei (a transaction is dozens of dollars). In 2023-2024, the average gas fee will be 20-50 Gwei, but the peak can reach 100 Gwei.

**Expensive is not a bug, it is the pain of growing up on the Internet. ** Ethereum is being alleviated by The Merge (converting to PoS) and Dencun upgrade (introducing Blob), but in the short term, we still have to find ways to optimize it ourselves.

How to optimize Gas fee? 5 tips to help you save money

The good news is, you don't have to wait to get cut. As a novice, using these tricks can cut down the cost a lot. From easy to difficult, one by one.

1. Choose off-peak hours for trading, and look at timing just like stock trading.

Gas fees are like the stock market, rising and falling. Avoid the peak weekdays in the United States or early morning trading in Asia, and choose to operate on weekends or late at night, and the price will be much cheaper.

Tool Recommendation: Use Etherscan’s Gas Tracker to view real-time Gwei (such as safe prices and fast prices). Novices can set an alarm clock and wait until the gas is lower than 20 Gwei before starting.

2. Use Layer2 (L2), the cost is directly broken.

Layer2 is the extension layer of Ethereum, which can reduce the cost to a fraction of the main network. Popular L2s include:

Optimism: Using Optimistic Rollups, the cost is about 1/10 of the main network.
Arbitrum: Similar, suitable for playing DeFi and games.
Polygon (formerly Matic): side chain, gas fee is almost free, and it can be done for just a few cents.

**How to get started? ** Add the L2 network in MetaMask, and then bridge the assets there (use tools like Hop Exchange). Note: There is a small fee for bridging, but the savings will be huge in the long run.

3. Manually adjust Gas settings, don’t let your wallet trick you

Don't use the preset "Quick" mode in your wallet, choose "Standard" or customize it yourself. Set the gas limit high (to prevent failure), but don’t set it too high.

Tools: GasNow or Blocknative simulators can estimate costs in advance.

4. Batch processing, saving gas by doing it in one go

If you trade frequently, you can save a lot of gas by using a multi-signature wallet like Gnosis Safe to perform multiple operations at once. DeFi protocols, like 1inch aggregator, can find optimal paths and reduce contract calls.

5. Change to a cheaper chain, but beware of pheasants

If the project supports it, you can consider Solana (cost <0.01 USD) or BSC (average 0.1 USD). But pay attention to safety: the Ethereum ecosystem is more mature, so don’t go on a black boat just to save money.

A must-read for newbies: No matter which chain you play on, you must have coins first, right? The safest and most cost-effective way is to buy through a regular licensed exchange. It is recommended to use CoinRebate’s exclusive invitation code to register and get a permanent fee discount, which will directly help you save money.

Binance: Use the referral code LULALA Register to enjoy 20% commission rebate.

OKX: Use the referral code LULALA Register to enjoy 20% commission rebate.

Bybit: Use the referral code ODXBWMN Register to enjoy 20% commission rebate. Remember: Stay away from pheasant exchanges and protect your assets - lessons learned through blood and tears, don’t take it seriously!

6. Contract optimization (advanced tips for developers)

If you are a developer, avoid loops and use less storage operations when writing Solidity. Tools like Remix IDE can test gas consumption.

Using these methods, novices can reduce a $10 transaction to less than $1. Optimization is not a one-time deal and must be combined with real-time monitoring.

Data comparison: you can understand it at a glance and know how much you can save.

In order to make it more intuitive for novices, I pulled up a table to compare the gas fees in different scenarios. The data is based on the average of 2023-2024 (source: Etherscan, Dune Analytics, etc., the actual situation is subject to real-time).

| Scenario/Network | Average Gas Price (Gwei) | Simple Transfer Fee (USD, ETH@3000USD) | Complex DeFi Operation Fee (USD) | Optimized Fee (Use L2, USD) | Savings Ratio | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Ethereum Mainnet (Peak) | 100 | 6.33 | 31.5 | N/A | N/A | | Ethereum Mainnet (off-peak) | 20 | 1.26 | 6.3 | N/A | 80% (vs peak) | | Optimism L2 | 0.5-2 | 0.03-0.12 | 0.15-0.6 | 0.03-0.6 | 95%+ (vs mainnet) | | Arbitrum L2 | 0.1-1 | 0.006-0.06 | 0.03-0.3 | 0.006-0.3 | 99% (vs mainnet) | | Polygon | 1-5 | 0.0006-0.003 | 0.003-0.015 | 0.0006-0.015 | 99.9% (vs mainnet) | | Solana (non-ether) | N/A (fixed low fee) | 0.000005 | 0.000025 | N/A | Almost free |

From the outside, the mainnet peak is the most expensive, but switching to L2 can save more than 95%. The average Gas will be 30 Gwei in 2023, and will drop slightly to 25 Gwei after the upgrade in 2024, but it will still surge when the bull market comes. After optimization, frequent operations can save hundreds of dollars a year - enough to eat several big meals.

Q&A: I’ll help you fill in the pitfalls that novices often step into.

**Q: Can the gas fee be refunded? ** A: Basically no chance. If the transaction fails, the gas fee will not be refunded (the miners have worked); if the transaction is successful, the gas fee will be fully deducted. Set a limit and don’t give too much.

**Q: What should I do if the transaction is stuck? ** A: It may be that the gas price is too low and the miners are ignoring it. Solution: Replace the transaction with a higher Gas (same as Nonce), or wait for the network to clear.

**Q: Is L2 safe? How does it compare to the mainnet? ** A: L2 inherits the security of the main network, but has a 7-day withdrawal period (to prevent fraud). Choose a well-known one like Optimism, which has low risk.

**Q: How to monitor gas fees? ** A: Use an app like Blockdaemon or the Etherscan website. Set an alarm to notify you when the gas falls below the threshold.

**Q: Can ETH2.0 completely solve high Gas? ** A: The Merge (completed in 2022) will be converted to PoS, and the energy consumption will be reduced, but the high cost will still depend on Sharding (expected to be after 2025). In the short term, it depends on L2.

**Q: How to optimize gas in mobile wallet? ** A: Both Trust Wallet and Rainbow support custom Gas. Combined with the Gas Station Network (GSN), the protocol can be used to pay for gas and you can enjoy the service for free.

**Q: Does high gas fee have any impact on the environment? ** A: The PoW era did consume electricity, but after PoS it was reduced by 99%. Optimizing Gas is also indirectly environmentally friendly.

**Q: What tools are recommended for beginners? ** A: MetaMask + Etherscan + Dune Analytics. It’s free and easy to use, so don’t mess around.

Summary: Don’t be deterred by gas fees, saving money means making money

Gas costs are expensive, mainly due to network congestion, demand explosion and structural limitations, but with the right methods - choosing a time period, turning on L2, and adjusting settings - novices can easily save 90%. Remember, the blockchain is still growing, and high fees are the price of growth. Future upgrades like Dencun will slowly improve.

From the data, cutting L2 is the most fragrant starting point and saves the most. As a novice, don’t be timid. Practice more and combine tools, and you can become an expert.

Hope this helps you! If you have any questions about exchange registration and handling fee discounts, go to the CoinRebate website. We provide permanent discount codes for major regular exchanges, allowing you to save money and feel at ease from the beginning.

Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. The currency circle has high risks, so investment needs to be cautious. Always trade through a formal, licensed exchange - safety first, don't joke with your hard-earned money.