Low transaction fee periods on Ethereum provide users with the opportunity to maximize their interactions on the blockchain while minimizing costs. Whether you’re a DeFi investor, NFT creator, developer, airdrop hunter, or just a curious user, there are many ways to take advantage of these opportunities.
Low fees on Ethereum, an opportunity not to be missed
Transaction fees, also known as gas fees or gwei on the Ethereum blockchain, are notoriously unpredictable. During periods of high activity, fees can reach prohibitive levels, hampering the adoption and mainstream use of Ethereum for many users.
On the other hand, When network activity slows down, gas costs can drop significantlycreating unique opportunities to maximize the use of blockchain at lower costs.
⛽ Follow our guide to understand everything about how fees work on Ethereum
Evolution of median fees on the Ethereum blockchain over 12 months
High gas fees can discourage users from performing even the simplest transactions, such as sending ETH from one wallet to another, while low fees open the door to a multitude of operations that would otherwise be costly.
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Considering what we have previously listed, knowing how to take advantage of these low fee moments can make a notable difference in optimizing strategies on the Ethereum blockchain.
Whether it's managing positions on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, exploring the world of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), testing new decentralized applications (DApps), being active in participating in current airdrops or even strengthening the security of your cryptocurrencies, periods of reduced fees can be exploited strategically to optimize your experience and your earnings on the blockchain.
In this article, we will explore the different ways to take advantage of these low transaction fees and how users can maximize their interactions on Ethereum.
📙 Understand everything about the Ethereum blockchain with our explanatory article
Take a look at pending transactions
In the Ethereum blockchain world, transaction fees can quickly add up and eat into a substantial portion of a user’s wallet, especially for those who make a lot of transactions. During congestion spikes, many users choose to postpone or put transactions on hold due to the prohibitive fees.
However, when gas fees drop, it's a great time to validate those pending transactions.. For example, on decentralized platforms such as Uniswap, Lido, Sky or Sushiswap, any operation requires interaction with smart contracts. Taking advantage of this when fees are low allows you to minimize the cost of these transactions.
Likewise, Users of decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms like Aave or Compound can adjust their positions, repay loans or move assets with reduced cost. It is an effective strategy to avoid costly liquidations and optimize investment returns.
Without going as far as protocols, a period of low fees on Ethereum can also be an opportunity to sell or swap cryptocurrencies that you hold in small amounts here and there in your own wallet. And this is because most of the time, these operations cost as much as the amount exchanged itself.
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Take advantage of low fees to use the DeFi ecosystem on Ethereum
Decentralized exchanges on Ethereum, such as Uniswap, Balancer, and Curve Finance, are pillars of the DeFi ecosystem. One of the main drawbacks of these exchanges is that every transaction — whether it’s a swap, adding, or withdrawing liquidity — requires interacting with a smart contract, which can be costly when gas fees are high.
So when these costs go down, This is a perfect opportunity to make transactions, for example to reorganize your wallet.. This is particularly attractive for those looking to diversify their portfolios or test new trading strategies without having to sacrifice a significant portion of their profits in transaction fees.
Low fee periods also allow investors to experiment with liquidity pools, optimize farming strategies, and maximize token yields through staking.
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Exploring and experimenting with NFTs: a creative opportunity
Buying, selling, or creating NFTs on platforms like OpenSea, Blur, or LooksRare can be extremely expensive due to the associated gas fees. When these fees decrease, This creates a window of opportunity for artists, collectors and traders to get into the NFT market at a reduced cost.
For creators, this means they can launch new collections or “mint” works without fear of exorbitant fees. For collectors and traders, it’s a time to browse new collections, bid on rare works, or resell existing NFTs without the costs eating into their profits. Indeed, many “blue chip” NFT collections are present on Ethereum.
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Using protocols requiring multiple interactions on Ethereum
Some DeFi protocols on Ethereum, such as Yearn Finance, Synthetix, or Curve, often involve complex interactions with multiple smart contracts, each with their own gas cost. For example, yield farming, a practice where users provide liquidity to a protocol to earn yields, can require multiple deposit, withdrawal, or reinvestment steps.
When fees are low, it allows users to execute these complex transactions without gas costs significantly decreasing returns.. Therefore, this may be an opportune moment to rebalance your cryptocurrency portfolio, for example by migrating positions between different protocols.
Retaking, a popular process since early 2024 to leverage your Ethers, also requires several interactions. Also, if fees are low on Ethereum, this can be an opportunity to create, adjust or close positions on protocols like EigenLayer, Symbiotic or Karak.
This is a way to not only optimize your returns, but also to actively participate in the governance and development of the DeFi ecosystem.
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Get updated on airdrops
Airdrops, free token distributions by new projects to attract attention and encourage user engagement, often require interactions with smart contracts. These interactions incur gas costs which, during times of high network congestion, can easily approach or exceed the value of the tokens received.
Therefore, although airdrops to be claimed on layer 1 are relatively rare, it is strategic to claim the airdrops concerned when the fees are low.
🎁 Discover our selection of airdrops not to be missed
This not only allows tokens to be recovered at a lower cost, but also optimizes their management: selling, exchanging or staking them becomes much more advantageous. In short, acting at the right time, when fees are low, allows you to maximize your gains while minimizing your expenses on the Ethereum network.
This is also a good time to bridge your cryptocurrencies between Ethereum (layer 1) and other networks. When layer 2 blockchains are in the middle of an airdrop phase, activity between Ethereum and the latter is very often an eligibility criterion.
Additionally, a growing number of protocols now rely on user activity on Ethereum to weed out sybils and farmers.
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Optimizing the security of your cryptocurrencies on Ethereum
Security in the crypto ecosystem should always be a priority. However, when it comes to protecting your assets, the cost of transactions can sometimes be a barrier to implementing advanced security measures on Ethereum. For example, setting up multi-signature wallets, moving funds to cold wallets, or reorganizing funds between different accounts to minimize risk can require multiple transactions.
Taking advantage of low cost times allows you to review and improve your security strategy without incurring prohibitive costs.
Additionally, this is an opportunity to review past interactions with smart contracts, revoke outdated permissions, and ensure wallets and accounts are properly configured for maximum protection.
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Source: Glassnode
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