Gas & Fees on XDC Network

Understanding how transaction fees work on XDC Network.

Overview

XDC Network uses a gas model similar to Ethereum, but with significantly lower costs. Gas is a unit measuring the computational effort required to execute transactions.

Key Concepts

Gas vs Gas Price vs Transaction Fee

Transaction Fee = Gas Used × Gas Price

Term	Description	Example
Gas	Computational units required	21,000 (simple transfer)
Gas Price	Cost per gas unit (in Gwei)	0.25 Gwei
Gas Limit	Max gas you’re willing to spend	100,000
Transaction Fee	Actual cost in XDC	0.00000525 XDC

XDC Network Fee Advantages

Metric	XDC Network	Ethereum	Savings
Avg Gas Price	0.25 Gwei	20-100 Gwei	80-400x cheaper
Simple Transfer	~$0.00004	$1-5	99%+
Token Transfer	~$0.0001	$5-20	99%+
Contract Deploy	~$0.01-0.10	$50-500	99%+

Gas Costs by Operation

Common Operations

Operation	Gas Used	Cost (0.25 Gwei)
XDC Transfer	21,000	~$0.00004
XRC20 Transfer	65,000	~$0.00012
XRC20 Approve	45,000	~$0.00008
NFT Transfer	85,000	~$0.00015
Contract Deploy	500,000-3,000,000	~$0.001-0.05
Swap (DEX)	150,000-300,000	~$0.0003-0.0006

EVM Opcode Costs

Opcode	Gas	Description
ADD	3	Addition
MUL	5	Multiplication
SSTORE (new)	20,000	Store new value
SSTORE (update)	5,000	Update existing value
SLOAD	800	Load from storage
CALL	700+	External contract call
CREATE	32,000	Deploy contract

Setting Gas Price

Recommended Gas Prices

Speed	Gas Price	Confirmation
🐢 Low	0.1 Gwei	~30 seconds
🚶 Standard	0.25 Gwei	~2-4 seconds
🏃 Fast	0.5 Gwei	~2 seconds

In Code

JavaScript (Web3.js)JavaScript (Ethers.js)

const Xdc3 = require('xdc3');
const xdc3 = new Xdc3('https://rpc.xinfin.network');

// Get current gas price
const gasPrice = await xdc3.eth.getGasPrice();
console.log('Current gas price:', xdc3.utils.fromWei(gasPrice, 'gwei'), 'Gwei');

// Send transaction with custom gas price
const tx = await xdc3.eth.sendTransaction({
    from: '0x...',
    to: '0x...',
    value: xdc3.utils.toWei('1', 'ether'),
    gasPrice: xdc3.utils.toWei('0.25', 'gwei'),
    gas: 21000
});

const { ethers } = require('ethers');
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://rpc.xinfin.network');

// Get fee data
const feeData = await provider.getFeeData();
console.log('Gas Price:', ethers.formatUnits(feeData.gasPrice, 'gwei'), 'Gwei');

// Send transaction
const tx = await wallet.sendTransaction({
    to: '0x...',
    value: ethers.parseEther('1'),
    gasPrice: ethers.parseUnits('0.25', 'gwei')
});

Estimating Gas

Always estimate gas before sending transactions:

// Estimate gas for a transaction
const gasEstimate = await xdc3.eth.estimateGas({
    from: '0x...',
    to: contractAddress,
    data: contract.methods.transfer(recipient, amount).encodeABI()
});

// Add 20% buffer for safety
const gasLimit = Math.ceil(gasEstimate * 1.2);

console.log('Estimated gas:', gasEstimate);
console.log('Gas limit (with buffer):', gasLimit);

Gas Optimization Tips

For Users

1. Set appropriate gas price: 0.25 Gwei is usually sufficient
2. Don’t overpay: XDC has consistent low fees
3. Batch transactions: Combine multiple operations when possible
4. Off-peak times: Fees are consistently low, but network is fastest during low activity

For Developers

1. Minimize storage writes

   // Bad: Multiple storage writes
   balances[user] = balances[user] + amount;
   totalSupply = totalSupply + amount;
   
   // Good: Batch operations
   function batchUpdate(address user, uint256 amount) internal {
       balances[user] += amount;
       totalSupply += amount;
   }
   

2. Use events instead of storage for historical data

   // Instead of storing all historical values
   event Transfer(address indexed from, address indexed to, uint256 value);
   

3. Pack storage variables

   // Bad: Uses 3 storage slots
   uint256 a;
   uint256 b;
   uint256 c;
   
   // Good: Pack into fewer slots
   uint128 a;
   uint128 b;
   uint256 c; // 2 slots total
   

4. Use calldata for read-only function parameters

   // Bad
   function process(string memory data) public { }
   
   // Good
   function process(string calldata data) public { }
   

Failed Transactions

If a transaction fails:

• Gas used up to the failure point is still charged
• Set appropriate gas limits to minimize losses
• Common failure reasons:
  • Out of gas
  • Contract revert
  • Invalid parameters

try {
    const tx = await contract.methods.riskyOperation().send({
        from: account,
        gas: 500000,
        gasPrice: xdc3.utils.toWei('0.25', 'gwei')
    });
} catch (error) {
    console.log('Transaction failed:', error.message);
    // Gas is still consumed up to failure point
}

Network Comparison

Network	Avg Tx Fee	TPS	Block Time
XDC Network	~$0.00004	2,000+	2s
Ethereum	$1-50+	15-30	12s
Polygon	~$0.01	7,000	2s
BSC	~$0.10	160	3s
Solana	~$0.00025	65,000	0.4s

Summary

• XDC Network offers 99%+ cheaper fees than Ethereum
• Standard gas price: 0.25 Gwei
• Simple transfer: ~$0.00004
• Always estimate gas before sending
• Optimize contracts to minimize gas usage

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Calculate Your Costs

Use the XDC Gas Station to check current network gas prices.