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Gas and Priority Fees: Why Solana Costs Pennies and Ethereum Costs Your Lunch

A beginner-friendly breakdown of how gas and priority fees work on Solana vs EVM chains, and what that means for your trades.

· 4 min read · Blackhat Empire

What Even Is Gas?

Every transaction on a blockchain costs a fee. That fee pays the network for the computing power to process your trade, move your tokens, or execute a contract. On Ethereum and its clones (BSC, Base, Polygon, etc.), that fee is called gas. On Solana, it's called a rent fee or compute unit fee, but everyone just calls it gas because the idea is the same.

The difference is how much you pay and how you control it. If you don't understand this, you will get wrecked on fees before you even make a trade.

EVM Gas: The Auction House

On EVM chains, every block has limited space. When you send a transaction, you're bidding against everyone else for a spot in the next block. Your bid has two parts:

  • Gas limit: the maximum work your transaction can consume (e.g., a simple ETH transfer uses 21,000 units; a Uniswap swap might use 150,000-300,000).
  • Gas price: how much you're willing to pay per unit, usually in gwei (1 gwei = 0.000000001 ETH).

Your total fee = gas limit x gas price. If the network is congested, gas prices spike. You can set a low gas price and wait, or pay a premium to get in fast.

Priority fee (also called miner tip or priority tip) is an extra payment you add on top of the base fee to jump the queue. On Ethereum EIP-1559, the base fee burns, but the priority fee goes to validators. On BSC, it's similar — you can bribe the validator to include you sooner.

Real-world EVM example

You want to buy a memecoin on Ethereum during a mania. Base fee is 30 gwei, you add a 10 gwei priority tip. Gas limit for a swap is 200,000. Total: 40 gwei x 200,000 = 8,000,000 gwei = 0.008 ETH. At $3,000 ETH, that's $24 for one trade. If the trade fails (slippage, sandwich), you still pay for the failed compute. Yes, you pay for nothing.

Solana: The Flat-Rate Highway

Solana doesn't use an auction model. It has a fixed compute unit budget per transaction (usually 200,000 CU for a simple swap). The base fee is a flat 0.000005 SOL per signature — literally a fraction of a cent.

Priority fee on Solana works differently. You can add an extra tip per compute unit to tell validators "please handle my tx first." The typical range is 0.00001 to 0.01 SOL for a fast trade. During extreme congestion (e.g., a hot memecoin launch), you might need 0.001-0.01 SOL to get through. But that's still $0.10 to $1.00, not $24.

Solana also has a local fee market. If one program (like a memecoin launchpad) is congested, only that contract's transactions compete for high priority fees. Other Solana trades run normally. On EVM, congestion on one contract jams the whole chain.

The catch

Solana transactions can fail too. If you set your slippage too tight or the price moves, you pay the compute fee anyway. But because the base fee is so low, a failed tx costs you maybe a penny. On EVM, a failed swap can cost $10-50.

Which One Should a Beginner Care About?

If you are trading memecoins, you will mostly use Solana (fast, cheap) and BSC (cheaper than Ethereum, but not as cheap as Solana). Ethereum mainnet is for whales and high-value plays. Base is somewhere in between. Robinhood chain is new and cheap like Solana.

Key differences at a glance

  • Solana: base fee ~$0.00001, priority tip optional but cheap, local fee markets, fast finality.
  • Ethereum: base fee + priority tip, global fee market, high cost during congestion, failed tx cost you real money.
  • BSC: similar to Ethereum but cheaper (base fee ~$0.10-0.50 during normal times).
  • Base: also EVM, fees usually $0.01-0.10, but can spike.

What Can You Do to Avoid Getting Ripped on Fees?

On EVM:

  • Use wallets that let you set custom gas. Never use the "fast" preset during congestion unless you're in a hurry.
  • Check the gas price on GMGN before you trade. The platform shows current network conditions.
  • Set a gas limit slightly above the estimate (say 250,000 for a swap). If you set it too low, the tx fails and you still pay.
  • For priority tip: start with 1-2 gwei on BSC, 5-10 gwei on Ethereum during calm periods.

On Solana:

  • Default priority fees in most wallets are fine. Only bump them if you see "blockhash not found" errors or slow confirms.
  • Use a tool like GMGN to see the current priority fee recommended for fast inclusion.
  • If you're trading a hot launch, set your priority fee to 0.001-0.005 SOL. You don't need to go higher unless the chain is jammed.

Across both chains:

  • Never trade during a major NFT mint or token launch unless you're okay with high fees. Wait 10 minutes.
  • Cancel failed transactions immediately on EVM. On Solana, they expire automatically in about 2 minutes.
  • Use limit orders when possible to avoid paying priority fees for market orders during volatility.

The Bottom Line

Gas and priority fees are the toll booths of crypto. Solana is a cheap toll road with express lanes. EVM chains are toll roads that can turn into $50 auctions when everyone wants to get on at once. As a beginner, stick to Solana and BSC until you understand how fees work. A single mistake on Ethereum can cost you more than your entire trade profit.

If you want to see real-time fee data and track which chains are cheapest right now, check the GMGN dashboard. And if you're serious about learning, join the BH GMGN CHAT and the chain-specific groups like BH GMGN SOLANA, BH GMGN BSC, BH GMGN ETH, BH GMGN BASE, and BH GMGN ROBINHOOD on Telegram to watch how experienced traders handle fees in real time.

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