Network fees
Base fees right now
What one transfer on Base costs at this moment — a plain ETH transfer and a USDC transfer — from the live gas price, and what an OP Stack network charges for.
Right now on Base
Read live from the network. Figures refresh about once a minute; the time of the last read is shown.
| One ETH transfer | Loading the live figure… |
|---|---|
| Of which the L1 data fee, on the coin transfer | Loading the live figure… |
| One USDC transfer to an address holding none of it | Loading the live figure… |
| One USDC transfer to an address already holding it | Loading the live figure… |
| Live rate | Loading the live figure… |
| What a transfer uses | Loading the live figure… |
| Read from | Loading the live figure… |
| Last read | Loading the live figure… |
What the fee pays for on Base
Every action on an EVM network uses a measured amount of work called gas. A plain transfer of the native coin uses a fixed amount; a stablecoin transfer runs the token’s contract and uses more. The fee is that gas multiplied by the gas price the network is charging at that moment, so the same transfer costs more when the network is busy and less when it is quiet.
The gas price shown is what the network is quoting right now. On Ethereum it is made of a base fee the protocol sets from demand plus a tip; on the networks built on the OP Stack (Base, Lisk) a second, usually smaller, charge pays for posting the transaction’s data to Ethereum, so the figure here is the execution part.
Who pays it, and what Unheld charges
The payer pays the Base fee from their own wallet, on top of the invoice amount; it goes to the network. Unheld takes 0% of the payment and charges the merchant a monthly plan priced by the number of payments, so the fee never changes what the merchant receives.
What the receiver needs on Base, and the first payment
The sender pays the gas from their own wallet. The receiving address needs nothing to receive: no ETH balance, no setup. A never-used address costs the sender the same gas as an old one.
A USDC transfer to an address holding none of the token costs the sender more gas than one to an address that already holds some: the network writes a new balance entry for the receiver. An Unheld invoice address is usually in that first state, fresh or swept to zero, so the headline figure above is that case, with the cheaper case beneath it.
Base is built on the OP Stack: besides the execution gas, every transaction pays a data fee for posting its bytes to Ethereum. The figures above include it, and the row beneath shows the data part on its own; its share of the total swings with Ethereum's own fees.
To send the funds on later, the merchant's address needs ETH on it for gas; receiving never needed it.
Questions about Base fees
How much is the gas fee on Base right now?
The live figure is at the top of this page, read from the network and priced in ETH and in dollars. It is a gas price multiplied by the gas a plain transfer uses, and it changes with demand.
Who pays the Base gas fee on a crypto payment?
The payer, from their own wallet, on top of the invoice amount. The merchant receives the invoice amount; Unheld takes 0% of it.
Why does a USDC or USDT transfer cost more than a ETH transfer?
A stablecoin is a contract. Transferring it runs the contract’s code, which uses more gas than a plain coin transfer, at the same gas price.
Does the receiver need ETH to be paid on Base?
No. Receiving costs nothing and needs no balance. The merchant needs ETH on the address only later, to send the funds on.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from one of these documents. Each was read on the date shown rather than recalled.