Just as cars need fuel and humans need food for energy, the Ethereum (ETH) network needs gas to facilitate its transactions. And you might wonder why are gas feeds so high and think about how can we avoid them. This is your lucky day, you can find out your concerns and solution in this article.
Why are gas fees so high?
If you're feeling transaction anxiety due to high gas bills, several factors may be at play, including:
- The surge in internet activity
- You may be executing a complex transaction
- Have a sustained period of interest in networking
One of the things that make ETH gas calculation so tricky is that it is never a fixed price. The amount of gas you need to pay depends on the size or complexity of your transaction. For example, a complex transaction can easily get you 1,000,000 gas back, while a simple transfer will only cost you about 21,000.
Some other contributors to the price of Ethereum gas fees include:
- The popularity of NFTs on Ethereum. Much of the surge in gas prices can be attributed to the much-anticipated NFT drop.
- Ethereum is the home of DeFi (decentralized finance). Many of the largest and most established dapps are built on Ethereum and continue to be the largest players in DeFi. Popularity naturally increases the computational demands on the network for all the transactions which accompany it.
How can we avoid them?
There are a few things you can do to minimize the ETH gas fee you have to pay
- Set a low base fee in your wallet (may cause slow, stuck, or lost transactions)
-Wait for a low activity period
- Use Layer 2
- Use tools to calculate your gas fees
Conclusion
Now you know the reason why are gas fees so high and how to avoid them. Now, we have to play with the hand we are dealing with. Gas prices are high, so sticking with tried-and-true things like Bitcoin and its proven Lightning Network may benefit the most, at least until we see what happens when (or if) Ethereum 2.0 crashes.
