Introduction

The blockchain fee is a cryptocurrency transaction fee that is charged to users when performing crypto transactions. The fee is collected in order to process the transaction on the network.

You need to pay the blockchain fee to ensure your cryptocurrency transfers arrive in a timely manner. The blockchain fee is one of the main tools used to speed up crypto transactions, which are often slow due to high congestion on the blockchain network. The lower the blockchain fee, the lower your transaction's priority in the blockchain network.

Blockchain fees depend on several factors including network congestion, transaction confirmation times (affected by liquidity providers), and transaction size (as measured in kilobytes; affected when converting crypto from multiple inputs such as faucet earnings or other micro-transactions).

In other words, you may need to pay higher blockchain fees if:

• the blockchain network is busy or loaded at the moment. Usually, the fee increases during sudden blockchain rate fluctuations and major world events;
• your crypto account has a history of microdeposits (like referral bonuses). If your account has large amounts of small deposits, the size of your transaction will be bigger as it will consist of many inputs. The bigger the transaction size, the higher the blockchain fee. 

Methods

In this dashboard I have created a gas tracking dashboard that looks at gas usage by a chain over the last couple of months. It includes Ethereum, Solana, Algorand, Flow, NEAR, Optimism, Polygon and Osmosis chains.

\n The main metrics to be analyzed are:

• Total amount USD of gas spent on the chain in the last 30 days.
• Average cost of gas in USD per $1,000,000 of liquidity transferred on each chain 30 days
• Average block gas price hourly and daily
• The top 10 addresses on each chain that spend the most on gas in the past month
• Daily amount spent on gas by chain tracked over the last 30 days
• Chart gas spend to network token price

Daily and hourly fees and gas paid over the past 30 days

As can be seen in the first chart, Ethereum leads in the number of fees paid in USD on a daily basis, followed by Binance Smart Chain and Near. The same happens if we look at the same hourly metric. While the total fees paid daily ranges between 1 and 10M USD on the Ethereum network, equivalent to between 100 and 500k per hour, on BSC and Near it does not reach 1 million USD per day or 50k per hour. Polygon is around 200k USD daily while Solana at 20k. Flow, Osmosis and Optimism are the chains with the lowest fees.

However, if we look at the average transaction fee, the situation changes a little because the same number of fees are not being executed in one chain as in another. In this case, the leader continues to be Ethereum, with between $2 and $10 per transaction in fees, followed by BSC which is between $0.1 and $0.3. Polygon ranges between 1 and 10 cents while the other chains have values below 1 cent, so fees are hardly noticeable.

Average block has price daily and hourly over the past 30 days

As for the gas price, we can see that in this case Osmosis leads the table followed by Solana, which has approximately half the average price. Behind come Ethereum and Near which have similar values and evolutions and those with the lowest gas price are Flow, BSC, Polygon and Optimism.

In fact, in the image on the right, we can see the brutal difference between Optimism and the other networks in terms of gas price per hour. At some point we can see how Solana switches to Osmosis.

Total gas spent in fees over the past 30 days and gas spent per 1M of USD in liquidity transferred

If we compare the overall gas spent during the past month or the past 30 days, we can observe the big difference between Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain with the rest of the blockchains. Solana and Near also stand out compared to Flow, Optimism, Osmosis and Polygon. While in Ethereum about 4.75M USD have been spent on fees and in BSC almost 4M, in Solana and Near less than half a million have been spent. In FLow and Polygon less than 15k USD and in Optimism and Osmosis less than 10k.

Anyway, if we look at the gas spent per million of liquidity transferred, we can see that in first position is Optimism, followed by Polygon and Ethereum. Solana Algorand and Near have very low values in comparison.

Top 10 addresses that spent the most on gas fees over the past month by chain

In this final section, we can see the 10 wallets that have paid the most fees during the last month in each chain. I have also put the number of transactions so that you can see the proportion of fees per transaction. It may be that there is a wallet that has spent a lot because it has made many transactions or it may not.

So, what we can see is that Ethereum stands out from the others as we see that it is the only one that has wallets that have spent more USD than transactions. In fact, there is a wallet that for making about 15k transactions has paid more than 40k in USD. The biggest difference is in Polygon, where all the wallets have made more than 1M transactions but have all paid around 200 USD. The rest of the blockchians show quite similar values.

Concluding

• Ethereum leads in the number of fees paid in USD on a daily basis, followed by Binance Smart Chain and Near. The same happens if we look at the same hourly metric.
• While the total fees paid daily ranges between 1 and 10M USD on the Ethereum network, equivalent to between 100 and 500k per hour, on BSC and Near it does not reach 1 million USD per day or 50k per hour. Polygon is around 200k USD daily while Solana at 20k. Flow, Osmosis and Optimism are the chains with the lowest fees.
• Ethereum leads the average transacion fee, with between $2 and $10 per transaction in fees, followed by BSC which is between $0.1 and $0.3. Polygon ranges between 1 and 10 cents while the other chains have values below 1 cent, so fees are hardly noticeable.
• As for the gas price, we can see that in this case Osmosis leads the table followed by Solana, which has approximately half the average price. Behind come Ethereum and Near which have similar values and evolutions and those with the lowest gas price are Flow, BSC, Polygon and Optimism.
• There is a huge difference between Optimism and the other networks in terms of gas price per hour. At some point we can see how Solana switches to Osmosis.
• There is a big difference between Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain with the rest of the blockchains in terms of overall gas spent over the past month. Solana and Near also stand out compared to Flow, Optimism, Osmosis and Polygon.
• While in Ethereum about 4.75M USD have been spent on fees and in BSC almost 4M, in Solana and Near less than half a million have been spent. In FLow and Polygon less than 15k USD and in Optimism and Osmosis less than 10k.
• Looking at the gas spent per million of liquidity transferred, we can see that in first position is Optimism, followed by Polygon and Ethereum. Solana Algorand and Near have very low values in comparison.
• Regarding the 10 wallets that have paid the most fees during the last month, Ethereum stands out from the others as we see that it is the only one that has wallets that have spent more USD than transactions. In fact, there is a wallet that for making about 15k transactions has paid more than 40k in USD.
• The biggest difference is in Polygon, where all the wallets have made more than 1M transactions but have all paid around 200 USD. The rest of the blockchians show quite similar values.