The unit of computational work on EVM chains; users pay gas in the native token to execute operations in smart contracts.
Gas measures the work required to perform operations like storage writes, hashing, and contract calls. Each opcode has a cost; total gas × gas price determines the fee paid.
Writing to storage costs more gas than arithmetic; complex swaps or NFT mints are more expensive than simple transfers.
Gas prices fluctuate with demand for block space. Users balance speed and cost by adjusting gas price (or using EIP-1559’s max fee and priority fee fields).
During congestion, increasing max priority fee helps a transaction be included sooner; during quiet periods, low fees suffice.
All terms and definitions may update as the Cryptionary improves.