Gwei

What Is Gwei?

Gwei is a unit of measurement used in the Ethereum blockchain. It is short for "Giga-wei," where "giga" denotes one billion. Therefore, 1 Gwei is equal to one billion wei (0.000000001 ETH). Wei is the smallest denomination of Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. 

A similar concept exists in Bitcoin, where the smallest denomination of Bitcoin is called a "satoshi," named in honor of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Why Do People Track Ethereum Gwei

Gwei is commonly used to express gas fees on the Ethereum network. Gas fees are the transaction fees users must pay to process transactions or execute smart contracts on Ethereum and its Layer 2 solutions. By using units of Gwei, gas fees become more human-readable, making it easier for users to understand and compare the costs of transactions.

Current gas fee prices based on Etherscan.

Implications

Users looking to save on transaction fees should aim to perform their transactions during periods when Gwei is lower. A helpful tool for identifying these times is the gas price heat map available on Etherscan.

Heat map of Ethereum gas fees denominated in Gwei.

The heat map shows that Gwei values are typically lower before 10:00 UTC. To minimize transaction fees, users can avoid making transactions during the peak hours of 10:00 to 22:00 UTC.