Gas Fees

Gas fees are the costs you pay to process transactions on a blockchain—the digital ledger that records cryptocurrency trades. Think of it like a transaction fee at your bank, except it goes to the network computers (called miners or validators) that verify and record your trade. You'll encounter gas fees whenever you buy, sell, or transfer crypto, and they can vary wildly depending on network demand. When everyone's trading at once, fees spike; when it's quiet, they drop. For example, if Sarah buys Ethereum when the network is congested, she might pay $50 in gas fees on top of her purchase price. On a slow day, that same trade might only cost $5. It's one reason crypto investors watch network activity closely.