Gas fees are transaction charges paid for computation, data storage, or other use of network resources on blockchains that use a gas-based fee model.
A transaction consumes gas according to the computational and storage resources required by the protocol. The amount paid depends on gas usage and the network's fee mechanism. During congestion, users can face higher fees for faster inclusion. Fee distribution varies by blockchain. Some networks pay fees to validators or block producers, while others burn part of the fee or divide it among several destinations.
Gas measures resource consumption under a network's fee model. The resulting fee is the monetary amount charged for that gas and can vary even when the same transaction consumes a similar quantity of gas.
Gas costs affect the economic viability of stablecoin transfers, particularly for small payments and smart-contract interactions.
A simple token transfer can consume less gas than a complex DeFi transaction even when both move the same dollar value.