Cheapest network to send ETH right now
Right now the cheapest network to send ETH is BNB Smart Chain: $0.025 in total (exchange + chain, ~5 s to confirm). The dearest with a reading is Ethereum at $0.276. All 5 ETH rails have a reading.
Read 28 Sept, 02:45 UTC. Exchanges readable: Binance, KuCoin and HTX. ETH priced at $2,652.
| Rank | Network | Chain fee | Speed | Cheapest withdrawal | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20)cheapest 2 of 3 listed exchanges enabled · USDT transfer used as the proxy; a plain ETH send is usually cheaper | $0.0021 | ~5 s | $0.023 · Binance | $0.025 exchange + chain |
| 2 | Optimism 2 of 3 listed exchanges enabled | not tracked | — | $0.040 · Binance | $0.040 exchange only |
| 3 | Arbitrum One 3 of 3 listed exchanges enabled · USDT transfer used as the proxy; a plain ETH send is usually cheaper | $0.0080 | ~1 s | $0.053 · Binance | $0.061 exchange + chain |
| 4 | Base 2 of 3 listed exchanges enabled | not tracked | — | $0.133 · Binance | $0.133 exchange only |
| 5 | Ethereum (ERC-20) 3 of 3 listed exchanges enabled | $0.091 | ~1 min | $0.186 · Binance | $0.276 exchange + chain |
Basis: total is the cheapest enabled withdrawal fee across Binance, KuCoin and HTX plus the chain's own fee for sending on again, where both are known; a rail with one reading is ranked on that and labelled. Chain fees from the networks (cached 90 s), exchange fees from their public endpoints (cached 10 min). Each network name opens its page with every exchange's fee, minimums and 24h history.
ETH rails, in short
Ether is native on Ethereum and on the rollups that settle to it (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base), where the same coin pays the fees. ETH on BNB Smart Chain is a Binance-pegged token.
Questions
- Which network is cheapest for ETH right now?
- BNB Smart Chain, at $0.025 total (exchange + chain). Next is Optimism at $0.040. Cheapest only helps if the receiver accepts ETH on that network: check their deposit page before choosing.
- Is the exchange fee or the network fee the bigger cost?
- On 3 of the 3 ETH rails where we read both, the exchange withdrawal fee is larger than the chain's own fee. On BNB Smart Chain, for instance, the cheapest withdrawal is $0.023 (Binance) against $0.0021 on-chain. Exchanges charge a flat amount that rarely tracks the live fee market.
- Are the ETH tokens on different networks the same thing?
- Ether is native on Ethereum and on the rollups that settle to it (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base), where the same coin pays the fees. ETH on BNB Smart Chain is a Binance-pegged token. For Optimism and Base we read only the exchange fee, not the chain's own.
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