Articles in this section

Ethereum network fees (gas): what do you need to pay?

  • Updated
Follow
This post covers what Ethereum network fees (gas) you need to pay for in Argent, as well as what we cover on your behalf. It will evolve based on the cost to use Ethereum, partnerships with Dapps that want to subsidize the cost, and progress on scalability solutions.  
 

Our aims in helping you navigate network fees

We want to align:

  1. Smooth user experience.
  2. Long-term economic sustainability.
  3. Transparency on current network fees.
  4. Incentives to minimize Ethereum network congestion. 

It's important to note that we do NOT profit from network fees.  

What is a network fee (gas)?

The Ethereum network fee is a variable fee, paid in ETH, for computational power on Ethereum. Every transaction that happens on Ethereum requires network fees. This includes investing in, and withdrawing from, the Dapps Argent has integrated. The network fee is paid to 'miners' who help to process and secure what happens on Ethereum. You can read a fuller explanation here. 

Currently, the following features are free (we cover the network fees)

  • Security, such as adding a guardian or changing your daily limit (these are all on-chain transactions that require network fees, as our security model is blockchain-based)

You need to pay network fees for:

  • Transfers of ETH, ERC20 tokens and collectibles
  • Decentralized finance integrations, e.g. Uniswap, Aave
  • WalletConnect
  • In-app token trading 
This will evolve depending on Dapp subsidies and gas prices.
 

How to see what network fees you're paying?

As you go to make a trade or transaction in the app, you'll see a label with the network fee before the final confirmation screen. 
 
For simplicity, we'll automatically pick the amount of network fee required based on current network conditions. We do this to minimize the risk of your transaction failing, which still costs network fees. 
 
We'll always try our best to ensure the transaction goes through, even resending it at higher prices and paying the difference if required. 
 

What tokens can I pay the network fees in?

Some features require only ETH for network fees; for others you can pay them in a range of ERC20 tokens, which we then exchange for ETH under the hood. These ERC20 tokens include: ETH, ZRX, BAT, REP, DAI, USDC, USDT or WBTC. 

  • Network fees paid in only ETH: WalletConnect
  • Network fees paid in ETH or ERC20: Transfers, Paraswap (our in-app exchange)

Over time we'll help you to pay for a wider range of features in ERC20 tokens, not just ETH.

Does Argent profit from network fees?

No. 

Do failed transactions still require network fees?

Yes, unfortunately this is the case for every Ethereum project. To minimize the risk of failed transactions we automatically pick the gas price required based on current network conditions, as mentioned earlier.

Abuses of the policy

Argent reserves the right to stop subsiding network fees for users who abuse our relayer service, for example by using free transactions through Argent to mint gas tokens.

Congestion & minimum investment size

At times of high network congestion and high gas prices, there may be minimum investment sizes. The risk otherwise is that people make transactions where the fees are a large proportion of the total trade size. 
 

Related articles