Gas: why every move costs something
Last reviewed: July 2026
Every time you do something on a blockchain — send, receive a swap, sign a contract — you pay the network a fee. That's gas.
It doesn't go to a company: it goes to the validators who process and verify your transaction.
| Amount | 100 USDC |
| Gas | ~0.001 SOL |
| Your friend receives | 100 USDC |
You pay the gas separately: it doesn't come out of the amount you send.
The rule you need to memorize
Gas is always paid in that network's native currency
It doesn't matter what token you're moving.
| To move something on… | You need |
|---|---|
| Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base | ETH |
| Polygon | POL |
| Solana | SOL |
| Bitcoin | BTC |
| Hyperliquid | HYPE |
To send USDC on Polygon you need POL. Having USDC isn't enough.
The classic jam
It's one of the most frustrating moments for someone new, and it happens to almost everyone once:
- 500 USDC — right there, you can see it
- 0 POL — and without this you can't pay for gas
Result: you can't move anything. You have the money but nothing to pay for the send.
The fix: send yourself a few cents of the native currency to that address. With $0.50 of POL you can make hundreds of transactions on Polygon.
When you withdraw from an exchange, withdraw both things
If you're about to withdraw USDC to a new network, also withdraw a little of the native currency in that same move. It saves you the jam.
Why the price goes up and down
Gas works like an auction: there's limited space in each block, and transactions compete to get in. When demand is high — a popular launch, a market crash — the price goes up for everyone.
That's why the same send on Ethereum can cost $3 on a Tuesday and $60 on a panicked Sunday.
L2s and Solana barely have this problem, because they have much more space.
How much it costs, roughly
| Network | Typical cost of a transaction |
|---|---|
| Solana | fractions of a cent |
| Base, Arbitrum, Polygon | cents |
| Bitcoin | dollars |
| Ethereum mainnet | dollars; tens at peak times |
We deliberately don't give exact figures: they expire in weeks. The practical rule is what matters — if you're moving less than $50, don't use Ethereum mainnet.
Tricks that actually work
- Pick the right network before you start. It's the decision that saves the most; everything else is cents. See Which network do I send on?
- Don't operate during panic moments if you're on Ethereum: gas spikes right when everyone wants to move.
- Approving a token costs gas too. If a DEX asks for "Approve" and then "Swap", that's two transactions and you pay twice.
- A failed transaction still charges gas. The network did the work even if the result was an error.
If you came looking for something else:Which network do I send on? · How to send without losing it · What a blockchain is