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Daniel

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Beyond Speed: How Aptos Achieves Ultra-Low Gas Costs at Scale

Aptos is engineered from the ground up to keep gas fees low, even as the network scales. It's not just one solution, but a combination of several technical innovations that contribute to its cost efficiency. Why are transactions fees so low on aptos? Let's get straight to the point...

  1. High Throughput and Parallel Execution (Block-STM):

    • The Core Principle: When a blockchain can process a massive number of transactions per second (high throughput theoretically at 160k per sec), the demand for block space is spread across a much larger capacity. This naturally drives down the price per unit of that space.
    • Aptos' Advantage: Aptos' block-stm engine allows for parallel transaction execution. Unlike older blockchains where transactions are processed one by one (like a single-lane road), Block-STM executes many transactions concurrently. This means the network can handle significantly more transactions without getting congested.




    • Impact on Gas: Less congestion means less competition for transaction inclusion. When there's ample capacity, users don't need to bid extremely high gas prices to get their transactions processed quickly, leading to consistently low base fees.

  2. Efficient Resource Accounting (Move Language):

    • The Problem: Some older blockchain environments can be inefficient in how they measure and charge for computational resources (cpu, memory, storage). This can lead to overcharging or under-optimization.
    • Aptos' Advantage: The move programming language, designed with resources as first-class citizens, allows for very precise and fine-grained accounting of the actual computational and storage resources consumed by a transaction.


    • Impact on Gas: Because the network can accurately measure the exact gas units used for instructions, i/o, and storage, transactions are only charged for what they truly consume. This granular control, combined with optimization principles baked into Move, helps developers write more gas-efficient smart contracts. 



  3. Storage Fees and Refunds:

    • The Problem: Storing data on a blockchain is a long-term cost for the entire network. Some chains charge high, non-refundable fees for storage, even if the data is later deleted.
    • Aptos' Advantage: Aptos separates "transient" computation/execution costs from "persistent" storage costs. While you pay a fee for allocating new storage slots, Aptos has a mechanism to refund a portion (currently the entirety) of the storage fee when data is deleted from the blockchain.


    • Impact on Gas: This incentivizes efficient data management. Developers and users are encouraged to clean up unnecessary state, which keeps the overall state of the blockchain lean, reduces validator costs for storing data, and ultimately keeps transaction costs lower by not penalizing temporary storage. Even though gas is burned and minted for refunds, the net effect encourages efficient storage use.



  4. Dynamic Gas Fee Model (Adaptive Pricing):

    • The Principle: Like many modern blockchains, Aptos employs a dynamic gas fee model that adjusts based on network demand.


    • Aptos' Implementation: While there's a minimum gas unit price set by governance, the actual gas price per unit can fluctuate. When the network is less busy, the gas unit price can drop very low. The system also prioritizes transactions with higher gas unit prices if needed (e.g., during periods of high demand), but it's designed to keep the base cost low during normal operations.
    • Impact on Gas: This allows transaction costs to remain affordable during periods of low to moderate activity, preventing consistently high fixed costs.

  5. Efficient State Synchronization:

    • The Problem: Keeping all nodes synchronized with the latest state changes can be a resource-intensive process, impacting network efficiency and indirectly gas costs.

    • Aptos' Advantage: Aptos uses advanced state synchronization techniques that allow nodes to keep updated rapidly and efficiently. This reduces the overhead for validators and the overall network.


    • Impact on Gas: A more efficient and less resource-intensive network infrastructure means validators can operate at lower costs, which translates into lower operational costs passed on to users in the form of gas fees.

Conclusively, Aptos achieves cheap gas fees by combining massive parallel processing (Block-STM) to handle high transaction volumes, precise resource accounting with Move to only charge what's truly consumed, smart storage refund mechanisms to encourage efficiency, and a dynamic fee model that scales with network load, all built upon an optimized, modular architecture. This collective approach ensures that the network can sustain low transaction costs even as it grows to accommodate billions of users and complex applications.

Thank you for coming this far. Need any clarifications, don't hesitate to ask in comments or reach out to me on Twitter.

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