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Since the dawn of blockchain technology, developers have been attempting to unpick the blockchain trilemma: decentralization, scalability and security. Today’s programmers are attempting to maintain the first and last ones while ensuring scalability to keep transaction costs from rising. We take a look at the best blockchains with the lowest fees.
BNB Smart Chain (BSC)
The BNB Smart Chain began life in 2017 when Binance was founded in China. It’s one of the biggest blockchains in terms of its coin BNB’s current market cap, which stands at $67.47 billion today. It has lower fees and faster transaction times than Ethereum, with which it shares a past and many similarities. With nearly 3,000 dapps listed dapps developed on its blockchain, BSC is certainly achieving its goal of scaling while keeping down costs.
Transaction fee: average cost is $0.3
Polygon
Polygon is an Ethereum sidechain created in 2017 to make transactions on Ethereum faster and cheaper. Sidechains run parallel to a main blockchain with a different set of rules and functions that make the transaction process more efficient. Another name for this is layer 2. The native token is MATIC.
Transaction fee: $0.1 – $0.5
Avalanche
Launched in September 2020 by Ava Labs, Avalanche is an open-source proof-of-stake blockchain. Ava Labs built Avalanche with the goal of solving the three perennial blockchain problems: scalability, security and decentralization. Ava Labs felt that no developer had been able to successfully lop off each head of this Cerberus at the same time. It remains to be seen whether or not Avalanche will be the one to slay the blockchain monster.
Transaction fee: if less than $20, the fee is 5%. If more than $20, the fee is $1.
Ronin
Game developer Sky Mavis created Ronin as an Ethereum sidechain specifically for Axie Infinity. Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn blockchain game and you can read more about it here. Ronin is built specifically for gaming and its negligible fees allow for millions of microtransactions without the off-putting fees that accompany other blockchain solutions.
Transaction fee: 100 free transactions per day. Sending SLP costs 1 SLP. All other transactions are less than $1.
WAX
WAX stands for Worldwide Asset eXchange and is a carbon neutral blockchain. It was designed specifically for trading NFTs in games and across the virtual world. The platform’s delegated proof of stake system (DPoS), in which 21 guilds are responsible for approving transactions, is reportedly 125,000 more energy efficient than Ethereum.
Transaction fee: no gas fees. 2% network fee on all NFT secondary market transactions.
Fantom
Robustness is the keyword for Fantom’s developers. It’s a mainnet blockchain that went live in December 2019 and it was launched with future scalability in mind. It allows users to create and deploy their own independent networks that interact with the main layer. Think of this as mini sidechains that individuals can develop to take the load off the main blockchain. Fantom didn’t think too long about the name of its native coin: it’s called Fantom but you’ll see it stylized as FTM in tables and tickers.
Transaction fee: as low as $0.0000001
Harmony
Another blockchain designed to solve the thorny issue of scalability in an increasingly busy online world, Harmony uses sharding and Effective Proof of Stake (ePoS) to achieve its goals. Combined, these two functions ensure Harmony doesn’t get too clogged up. This, in turn, keeps gas fees down. Harmony’s native coin is called ONE
Transaction fee: typically $0.000001
Alogrand
Algorand is another of the new generation of blockchains that aims to reduce transaction times and keep down costs. It launched officially in 2019 and can process 1,000 transactions per second with five-second finality. And for each new block in the Algorand blockchain, Alogrand will distribute the newly-created cryptocurrency (ALGO) to people who already hold a certain amount of it.
Transaction fee: as low as $0.001
Tezos
According to its developers, Tezos is ancient Greek for smart contract. Tezos began life in 2014 and its premise is simple. If users hold XTZ, the blockchain’s currency, they can vote on changes to the system. Once voted in, these changes will happen immediately, without extra programming. Its developers call it a ‘self-amending blockchain’.
Transaction fee: $0 – $0.01
Flow
Flow was developed in 2017 after Dapper Labs’ NFT collection CryptoKitties clogged up the Ethereum blockchain. Dapper Labs quickly realized that if it wanted an audience for its products, it would have to build an environment that worked properly. Built specifically for NFT collections and blockchain gaming, Flow is the blockchain of choice for NBA Top Shot, Animoca Brands, Ubisoft, Warner Music Group and many more.
Transaction fee: starts at $0.000001
