Gas / Gas Fee vs Layer 2

The computational fee paid to Ethereum validators for processing transactions and executing smart contracts, measured in units called gwei and calculated based on transaction complexity and network demand.

Layer 2 refers to secondary protocols and networks built on top of a blockchain's base layer (Layer 1) that process transactions off-chain while inheriting the security of the underlying blockchain, enabling higher throughput, lower fees, and faster confirmations without changing the base protocol.