What is a gas fee?
A gas fee is the payment a blockchain charges to process and record a transaction, paid in the network's own coin — ETH on Ethereum, TRX on Tron. The sender always pays it, and it is entirely separate from any exchange fee or desk spread.
KEY FACTS
| What it is | Payment to a blockchain for processing a transaction |
|---|---|
| Paid in | The chain's native coin (ETH, TRX) |
| Who pays | The sender, from the sending wallet |
| ERC20 USDT send (Ethereum) | Floats with congestion — under a cent at September 2026 gas prices, tens of dollars at the May 2021 peak |
| TRC20 USDT send (Tron) | ≈US$1–7, mostly flat |
| Separate from | Desk spread (0.08–0.40% at IWGT) |
Source: Ethereum and TRON developer documentation, network fee trackers, as of September 2026.
How does a gas fee work?
A gas fee is metered payment for computation: every action on a blockchain is priced in gas units, and the fee equals gas used multiplied by the current gas price. A token transfer such as USDT uses more gas than a plain coin transfer. On Ethereum the gas price is set by an auction for limited block space, so the fee floats with congestion, as documented on ethereum.org's gas pages. Tron prices transfers through a fixed resource model instead, which is why TRC20 fees stay flat at roughly US$1 to 7 in TRX while ERC20 gas moves, as of September 2026.
Gas is paid in the native coin, not in USDT: a wallet holding only USDT on Tron cannot send until it also holds some TRX.
Why it matters when selling USDT in the UAE
The seller pays the gas fee: it leaves your own wallet in TRX or ETH the moment you send and never touches the settlement amount, because a licensed desk's written quote is all-in and the agreed AED or USD reaches your account in full. The desk states the network in writing, TRC20 by default. Which network costs less is covered in the TRC20 vs ERC20 fee comparison.
Illustrative example
Selling 250,000 USDT at the 0.08% band costs 200 USDT, about AED 735, fixed in the written quote; the TRC20 gas fee of US$1 to 7 in TRX is under 0.003% of the trade. The spread is the only cost that matters at size, and the full bands are in the pricing section, as of September 2026.
FAQ
Who pays the gas fee when selling USDT at an OTC desk?
The seller pays the network fee from their own wallet, in the chain's native coin. It is never deducted from your settlement: the desk's written quote is all-in, and the agreed AED or USD amount reaches your bank account in full.
Why are TRC20 gas fees cheaper than ERC20?
Tron prices transfers through a fixed resource model — bandwidth and energy — so a USDT send stays around US$1–7. Ethereum auctions limited block space, so the same send floats with congestion and can cost several times more.
Do I need ETH or TRX in my wallet to send USDT?
Yes. Gas is always paid in the network's native coin: ETH for an ERC20 transfer, TRX for TRC20. Keep a small balance of the native coin in the sending wallet, or the transfer will not go through.
Do gas fees matter on a large USDT sale?
Hardly. A TRC20 fee of a few dollars is under 0.01% of a 100,000 USDT ticket. The cost that matters at size is the desk spread, which a licensed desk fixes in the written quote before you send anything.
Sell USDT without watching the gas meter
IWGT is a VARA-licensed Broker-Dealer in Dubai. Send TRC20 or ERC20 — the written quote is all-in, spread 0.08–0.40% by size, and AED reaches your own bank account the same business day by UAEFTS.
SOURCES
- ethereum.org — gas and fees documentation, accessed 11 September 2026.
- TRON developer documentation — bandwidth and energy resource model, accessed 11 September 2026.
- Etherscan — Ethereum gas tracker, accessed 11 September 2026.
- IWGT published pricing bands and onboarding requirements — IWGT published pricing bands, September 2026.
- GasFeesNow — live USDT transfer cost by chain (Ethereum ERC-20: US$0.0046 on 14 September 2026), accessed 14 September 2026.
- CoinLedger — Ethereum transaction fees and gas prices 2020–2025 (peak average fee US$53.16 on 10 May 2021), accessed 14 September 2026.
This guide is informational and is not legal, tax or investment advice, nor an invitation to buy or sell any virtual asset. Rules and figures are as of September 2026 — re-check the sources before acting. Virtual assets may lose their value in full or in part and are subject to extreme volatility.