A unit measuring the computational effort required to execute operations on a blockchain. On Ethereum, gas is priced in gwei (10^-9 ETH) and varies with network demand. Users set gas limits and gas prices; unused gas is refunded. Solana uses 'compute units' as its equivalent, with much lower costs (~$0.00025 per transaction vs. $1-100+ on Ethereum).
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A unit measuring the computational effort required to execute operations on a blockchain. On Ethereum, gas is priced in gwei (10^-9 ETH) and varies with network demand. Users set gas limits and gas prices; unused gas is refunded. Solana uses 'compute units' as its equivalent, with much lower costs (~$0.00025 per transaction vs. $1-100+ on Ethereum).
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Gas (gas) Category: Blockchain General Definition: A unit measuring the computational effort required to execute operations on a blockchain. On Ethereum, gas is priced in gwei (10^-9 ETH) and varies with network demand. Users set gas limits and gas prices; unused gas is refunded. Solana uses 'compute units' as its equivalent, with much lower costs (~$0.00025 per transaction vs. $1-100+ on Ethereum). Related: Compute Units (CU), Transaction Fee
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A measure of computational resources consumed by transaction execution, analogous to gas on Ethereum. Each BPF instruction costs CU; syscalls have predefined CU costs (e.g., SHA-256: 85 CU base + per-byte). Default per-instruction limit is 200,000 CU; max per-transaction is 1,400,000 CU. Priority fee cost = CU price × CU consumed.
The cost paid by the sender to have a transaction processed and included in a block. Fees compensate validators/miners for computation and prevent spam. Fee models vary: Ethereum uses dynamic gas pricing (EIP-1559 base fee + tip), Solana uses base fee (5,000 lamports) + optional priority fee, Bitcoin uses fee-per-byte.
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A measure of computational resources consumed by transaction execution, analogous to gas on Ethereum. Each BPF instruction costs CU; syscalls have predefined CU costs (e.g., SHA-256: 85 CU base + per-byte). Default per-instruction limit is 200,000 CU; max per-transaction is 1,400,000 CU. Priority fee cost = CU price × CU consumed.
The cost paid by the sender to have a transaction processed and included in a block. Fees compensate validators/miners for computation and prevent spam. Fee models vary: Ethereum uses dynamic gas pricing (EIP-1559 base fee + tip), Solana uses base fee (5,000 lamports) + optional priority fee, Bitcoin uses fee-per-byte.
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A distributed, append-only ledger that records transactions in cryptographically linked blocks. Each block contains a hash of the previous block, forming an immutable chain. Nodes in the network maintain copies of the ledger and reach agreement through consensus mechanisms. Blockchains enable trustless, decentralized record-keeping without a central authority.
The protocol by which nodes in a distributed network agree on the current state of the ledger. Common mechanisms include Proof of Work (Bitcoin), Proof of Stake (Ethereum, Solana), and BFT variants. Consensus ensures all honest nodes converge on the same transaction history despite potential network delays or malicious actors.
A consensus mechanism where validators are selected to produce blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked (locked) as collateral. PoS is energy-efficient compared to Proof of Work. Misbehaving validators risk losing their stake (slashing). Solana, Ethereum (post-Merge), Cosmos, and Cardano use PoS variants.
A consensus mechanism where miners compete to solve computationally expensive puzzles to produce blocks and earn rewards. PoW provides strong security (51% attack resistance) but is energy-intensive. Bitcoin and pre-Merge Ethereum use PoW. The difficulty adjusts to maintain target block times regardless of total network hash power.