The term “gas” comes from Ethereum, where every computational step a transaction requires costs a small amount of the network’s native token, paid to the validators who process and confirm it. Gas fees rise and fall with network congestion — the busier the network, the more users are effectively bidding against each other to get their transaction processed, which pushes fees up during high demand and down during quiet periods.

Not every blockchain uses “gas” terminology or fee structure identically — Bitcoin has its own transaction-fee model, and many newer blockchains are specifically designed to keep fees far lower than Ethereum’s historical peaks. Because fees change constantly with network conditions and even with the specific blockchain involved, any specific fee number quickly goes stale — it’s a variable cost to budget for, never a fixed one.

🇵🇭 Philippine Example

Filipino users moving crypto between a self-custody wallet and an exchange, or interacting directly with a DeFi protocol or NFT marketplace, should expect to pay a network gas fee on top of whatever fee the exchange or platform itself charges. Because both fee types fluctuate independently and constantly, this glossary intentionally avoids citing a specific peso or dollar figure — check current fees directly on the platform or network you're using rather than assuming a number from any article stays accurate.

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