Gas Limit and Gas Price

When you send an Ethereum transaction, you specify your gas price, typically denominated in Gwei, and a gas limit. The gas price you set determines how much you’re willing to pay per unit of gas. The gas limit determines how many units of gas you’re willing to pay for. You can think of your gas limit like a budget you set for the miner processing your transaction.

Gas markets determine if and when transactions will get confirmed. If a user sets their gas price too low, their transaction may get stuck. If a user sets their gas limit too low, their transaction cannot be executed because it runs out of gas.

Most of the time, a user’s wallet automatically fills in the gas limit for them. Simple transfers typically require a gas limit of 21,000 units, whereas complex interactions with smart contracts can require a gas limit of 100,000 or even 200,000. A general rule of thumb is that the more complex the transaction, the higher the gas limit will need to be. A user should not try to save gas by lowering their limit because it won’t change the amount of resources needed to process the transaction. Their transaction will just run out of gas and they’ll have to resubmit it, costing them more in gas fees.

Note: These are non-technical definitions meant for a general audience and should not be used as legal definition
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