Published 10 November 2026
Crypto network fees are what you pay to have a transaction included in a block: on Bitcoin they go to the miner, and on Ethereum part is burned and the tip goes to the validator. They are set by demand for space in the next blocks, not by how much you send: moving a million dollars can cost the same as moving ten. That is why the same transfer can cost cents one day and several dollars the next, and why the network you choose matters so much.
Bitcoin blocks have limited space, measured in virtual bytes (vbytes). A transaction's fee is its size in vbytes times a rate in satoshis per vbyte that you choose; when blocks are full, miners take the highest rates first. Size depends on how many earlier payments (inputs) the transaction spends, not on the amount: a wallet that received many small payments pays more to spend them together. When the network is quiet, a low rate confirms in an hour or less; when it is busy, a low rate can wait for days.
Ethereum measures work in gas. A plain ETH transfer uses 21,000 gas; sending a token such as USDC uses more, because it runs a contract. You pay gas used × (base fee + priority tip). The base fee rises and falls automatically with demand and is burned; the tip goes to the validator. The fee is paid in ETH, so an ordinary wallet holding only USDC on Ethereum cannot move it until it also holds a little ETH. ethereum.org has the full mechanics.
Layer-2 networks, or rollups, process transactions on their own and post them to Ethereum in compressed batches, so thousands of transfers share the cost of one Ethereum transaction. Since Ethereum's March 2024 upgrade added cheaper data space for rollups (EIP-4844), a stablecoin transfer on Base, Arbitrum or Optimism typically costs a fraction of a cent to a few cents, against much more on Ethereum itself. Gas there is still paid in ETH, on that network.
Other networks price transactions their own way. TRON, widely used for USDT, charges in resources called energy and bandwidth, which an account can rent or earn by staking TRX, or pay for by burning TRX. The principle is the same everywhere: someone pays the network to carry the transaction, in its own coin.
An exchange's withdrawal fee is its own charge and may be more or less than the network fee it pays. A payment service's fee is separate again. When comparing, look at the total that leaves your wallet and the total that arrives. For merchants, who pays which fee is in how to accept crypto payments.
Blocks have limited space, and when many people want in at once, the fee needed to be included rises. Fees fall again when demand does.
No. Network fees depend on the transaction's size or computation, not on the value sent.
Gas on Ethereum and its layer-2 networks is paid in ETH. An ordinary wallet holding only USDC cannot pay to move it.
Layer-2 networks such as Base, Arbitrum and Optimism are usually among the cheapest. Check which networks the receiver accepts before sending.
This guide explains how things work. It is not financial, investment or tax advice. Something wrong? Write to hi@perly.io and we will correct it.
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