Gas Price
The amount of cryptocurrency a user is willing to pay per unit of gas for a transaction to be processed on a blockchain.
Fundamental to blockchain game theory and spam prevention. Gas trackers (like Etherscan) provide real-time estimates for 'Low', 'Average', and 'High' priority speeds.
graph LR
Center["Gas Price"]:::main
Rel_gas_fees["gas-fees"]:::related -.-> Center
click Rel_gas_fees "/terms/gas-fees"
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🧠 Knowledge Check
🧒 Explain Like I'm 5
🌍 Imagine gas for your car. The 'gas price' is how much one gallon costs at the pump today. If the station is very busy, the price goes up. In crypto, you pay this price to the 'drivers' (validators) to get your [transaction](/en/terms/transaction) to its destination.
🤓 Expert Deep Dive
Post-EIP-1559, the gas price on Ethereum is split into two components: the Base Fee and the Priority Fee (tip). The Base Fee is automatically set by the network based on block congestion and is burned (removed from circulation), introducing deflationary pressure. The Priority Fee is paid directly to validators to incentivize them to include the transaction in the next block. Users can set a 'Max Fee Per Gas' to cap their total spend. Gas consumption is measured in gas units (e.g., 21,000 for a simple transfer), while the price is the cost per unit. During periods of extreme network demand (NFT mints, DeFi liquidations), gas prices can spike significantly due to the first-price auction model for priority.