Every time you transfer, swap, or buy NFTs on Ethereum, the gas fee you pay is actually split into two parts: Base Fee and Priority Fee (Tip). The base fee is burned and goes to no one. The priority fee is the reward for the validator (miner/node) who packages your transaction.
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This article will help you understand exactly where your gas fee goes and how to set it next time so you do not waste money.
These rules come from Ethereum's London Upgrade in August 2021 (EIP-1559). Before that, all gas fees went to miners. After the upgrade, the fee system changed.
When you start a transaction in a wallet (such as MetaMask or imToken), the gas settings you see are based on three key numbers:
Base Fee: Automatically calculated by the Ethereum network based on current congestion. This is the minimum entry price for a transaction to be included, and it is required. It adjusts automatically: the busier the network, the higher the base fee; the quieter the network, the lower the base fee.
Priority Fee / Tip: The extra money you add. The higher it is, the more willing validators are to include your transaction first. When the network is congested, this is like a jump-the-line fee.
Max Fee: The maximum total price you are willing to pay per unit of gas. Actual charge = min (base fee + tip, max fee).
Where does the money go?
Base fee: It is burned by the network. Simply put, that ETH permanently disappears from circulation.
Tip: It goes directly to the validator account that packaged your transaction.
Important risk: If your transaction fails, the gas fee is not refunded. The network already did the computing work for your invalid transaction, so you must cover that resource cost. Do not set your gas limit too low just to save fees, or your transaction may fail and you will still be charged.
After a successful transaction, go to Etherscan (the Ethereum block explorer), enter your transaction hash (TxHash), and on the transaction details page you can see:
Base Fee: the exact amount
Priority Fee (Tip): the exact amount
Burnt Fees: the total amount burned
The Burnt Fees field is the money that was burned. Nobody received it.
How to set it in your wallet?
Different wallets look different, but the basic logic is the same.
Case A: Using MetaMask or a similar wallet
It usually shows speed options like "Low," "Market," and "Aggressive."
Choosing "Aggressive" = higher tip and faster inclusion.
Click "Advanced" to see the exact Max Priority Fee (tip cap) and Max Fee (total fee cap) values.
Case B: Using wallets like imToken
It offers three levels: "Fastest," "Standard," and "Economy."
Choosing "Fastest" = higher tip and faster speed.
You can also switch to "Custom" and manually raise the tip.
Common failure reason: Why is my transaction still pending after I paid?
Many users say: "I chose the standard fee and waited half an hour, but it is still pending."
Because your tip was not high enough. When the network is congested, validators choose transactions with higher tips first. If your tip is too small, validators ignore your transaction and leave it waiting in the transaction pool.
Solutions (choose one):
Speed Up: Click "Speed Up" in your wallet and send a new transaction with the same nonce but a higher gas fee, mainly a higher tip, to replace the original one.
Wait: When the network becomes less congested, your original transaction may be included automatically. But it is uncertain how long that will take.
Risk reminder: Do not set your Max Fee (total fee cap) absurdly high just to be fast. If the base fee suddenly spikes, you could end up paying far more than expected. Set a reasonable cap so you do not empty your wallet.
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FAQ
Q: Is burning the base fee meant to make ETH deflationary? A: Yes. Burning reduces the total supply of ETH. Over the long term, this helps fight inflation and can give some support to the price of ETH.
Q: Does my tip go to miners or validators? A: Ethereum now uses proof of stake (PoS), so it goes to validators. "Miner" is the old term, and many people still use it out of habit, but you should know the money goes to the validation node that packages the block.
Q: Do Layer 2 networks (like Arbitrum or Optimism) follow the same gas fee logic? A: Not exactly. A Layer 2 total fee = L2 execution fee + L1 data fee (for reporting data to the Ethereum mainnet). The L1 data fee is affected by the mainnet base fee and can change independently. You can save on data fees by transacting when the L2 network is not congested.
