Fees
How do network fees on Base work?
Every Base transaction consists of two costs: an L2 (execution) fee and an L1 (security) fee. The L2 fee is the cost to execute your transaction on the L2, and the L1 fee is the estimated cost to publish the transaction on the L1. Typically the L1 security fee is higher than the L2 execution fee. The L1 fee will vary depending on the amount of transactions on the L1. If the timing of your transaction is flexible, you can save costs by submitting transactions during periods of lower gas on the L1 (for example, over the weekend) Similarly, the L2 fee can increase and decrease depending on how many transactions are being submitted to the L2. This adjustment mechanism has the same implementation as the L1; you can read more about it here. For additional details about fee calculation on Base, please refer to the op-stack developer documentation.Minimum Base Fee
As part of the Jovian upgrade, Base introduced a minimum base fee. This feature sets a floor for the L2 base fee, preventing it from dropping to extremely low levels during periods of low network activity. The minimum base fee for Base Mainnet is 2,000,000 wei (0.002 gwei). This value may be periodically adjusted as we gather data on how it affects the chain. For reference, a minimum base fee of 0.002 gwei results in a cost of approximately $0.001 for a typical 200,000 gas transaction at an ETH price of $2500.Benefits
- Faster Transaction Inclusion: Previously, when low activity caused the base fee to drop very low, spikes in demand could lead to extended periods of congestion before fees rose enough to clear the backlog. With a minimum base fee, transactions are typically included more quickly without users needing to manually adjust priority fees.
- More Predictable Fees: During normal operation, the base fee will remain at or near the minimum. During congestion, the base fee rises above the minimum. This creates a more predictable fee structure similar to surge pricing.
- Spam Prevention: Extremely low fees can incentivize spam transactions that don’t provide value to the network. The minimum base fee helps price out such activity while keeping fees affordable for legitimate use.
Current Configuration
| Network | Minimum Base Fee |
|---|---|
| Base Mainnet | 2,000,000 wei (0.002 gwei) |
| Base Sepolia | 200,000 wei (0.0002 gwei) |
EIP-1559 Fee Parameters
Base uses the OP Stack’s implementation of EIP-1559, which controls how the L2 base fee adjusts in response to network demand. Two key parameters govern this behavior:Elasticity Multiplier
The Elasticity Multiplier determines the maximum gas capacity of a block relative to the target gas usage. With an elasticity of 6, blocks can contain up to 6× the target gas, allowing the network to absorb sudden demand spikes.Base Fee Change Denominator
The Base Fee Change Denominator controls how quickly the base fee adjusts. A larger denominator means slower, more gradual fee changes. With a denominator of 125, the base fee changes more smoothly compared to lower values.Maximum Rate of Change
The maximum rate of base fee change per block is calculated as: Max increase per block = (Elasticity - 1) / Denominator With the current parameters (Elasticity = 6, Denominator = 125):- Maximum increase per block: (6 - 1) / 125 = 4%
- Minimum time to double the base fee: 18 blocks × 2 seconds = 36 seconds
Current Configuration
| Network | Elasticity | Denominator | Max Change/Block |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Mainnet | 6 | 125 | 4% |
| Base Sepolia | 6 | 50 | 10% |