Gas
Quick Answer
Gas is the unit measuring computational work for blockchain transactions. Gas costs fluctuate with network congestion, which is why Layer 2 networks and gasless solutions are critical for payments.
Full Definition
Gas is the unit of measurement for computational work required to execute transactions and smart contract operations on Ethereum and EVM-compatible blockchains. Each operation (transfer, swap, contract call) consumes a specific amount of gas. Gas is priced in gwei (one billionth of an ETH). Gas costs fluctuate with network congestion — during peak demand, gas prices spike and transactions become expensive. This is why Layer 2 networks and gasless transaction solutions are critical for payment adoption.
Related Terms
Gas Fee
A gas fee is the cost paid to validators for processing a blockchain transaction. SpacePay covers gas fees for customers, removing the need to hold native tokens.
Gasless Transaction
A gasless transaction is one where the end user pays no gas fee — a third party like SpacePay sponsors the cost using meta-transactions or account abstraction.