Glossary

Short for gigawei, a gwei refers to the smallest denomination on the Ethereum network. A gwei is one-billionth of 1 ETH, and is usually used to pay for gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain network.

Gwei is a denomination of Ether (ETH), the cryptocurrency which is used to pay for goods and services on the Ethereum blockchain. Specifically, it refers to 1,000,000,000 Wei, which is the smallest ETH denomination possible (just as cents are to dollars or satoshi is to Bitcoin). A gwei literally means gigawei.

Gwei is the most commonly used denomination of Ether because it is used when referring to gas on the Ethereum network. Gas fees – which is a measure of how much someone is willing to pay for a transaction or smart contract operation on the Ethereum network to be executed – are shown in Gwei. Because these gas fees are so minimal, it doesn’t make sense to refer to them in ETH, as it would have many decimal places.

One ETH equals 1,000,000,000 Gwei. Looking at it the other way, one Gwei equates to 0.000000001 ETH. When referred this way, it can be also called a nano Ether. This is because it is one-billionth, or one nano, of an Ether. 

This table lays out the different denominations of ETH and how much they are worth. 

Each of these denominations also has a nickname – of figures who either directly or indirectly had some influence in the creation of Ethereum.

Gwei

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