What is Gwei?
Understanding the unit of measurement for Ethereum gas
Gwei = Gigawei
Just like a dollar has 100 cents, 1 ETH has 1,000,000,000 (one billion) gwei. Gwei is short for "gigawei" - a smaller denomination of Ether that makes gas prices easier to read.
ETH Denominations
1 ETHEther
1,000,000,000 gwei1 gweiGigawei
0.000000001 ETH1 weiSmallest unit
0.000000000000000001 ETHWhy Use Gwei?
Gas prices in ETH would be tiny, hard-to-read decimals. Gwei makes them human-friendly:
Hard to read0.000000012 ETH
Easy to read12 gwei
Key Takeaway
Gwei is simply a convenient way to express gas prices. When you see "12 gwei", that's the price per unit of gas for your transaction. Multiply by gas used to get your total fee.