Blockchain fees refer to the transaction fees that users pay whenever they perform cryptocurrency transactions. These fees are essential for blockchain networks to maintain operation since they incentivize miners/stakers to do their jobs in validating transactions and securing the network.
Often called gas fees, transaction fees may differ based on numerous factors. For instance, users are given the option to pay a specific amount of crypto based on how quick they want their transactions settled on-chain. The lower they pay in blockchain fees, the longer they’d have to wait for their transactions to be confirmed. And if they pay too low, their transaction might get stuck in the MEM pool, which would force them to either cancel or pay a higher fee.
Blockchain fees are also affected by network congestion, i.e., if there are too many cryptocurrency transactions happening on-chain, blockchain fees will proportionally become more expensive. This has really come to the fore in 2021, with popular networks like Ethereum suffering from record high transaction charges and congestion that will only be solved with its new PoS migration.