Gas Fees
Gas fees are the costs required to execute transactions or smart contracts on a blockchain network. These fees compensate validators or miners for the computational power required to process and secure the transaction.
When the network is congested, gas fees can rise significantly, making it expensive for users to interact with decentralized applications. High gas fees can deter smaller users and impact the efficiency of high-frequency trading strategies.
Many Layer 2 scaling solutions and newer blockchain architectures are designed to drastically reduce these fees, improving the accessibility of decentralized finance. Understanding gas fees is essential for calculating the true cost of participating in on-chain activities and managing a portfolio effectively.