Gas and fees: what it costs in euros to deposit and withdraw ETH
The networks
The casino usually does not charge you for the deposit. You pay the network, in gas, and the bill changes with the hour, with the network and with what you send. Here is the formula, an example to redo with the day's figures, and who takes the gas out of your withdrawal.
Gas and fees are the part of an ETH deposit that no banner shows. When you send ETH to a casino, the Ethereum network asks for a payment to include your transaction in a block: that is the gas. It does not go to the casino, it goes to the people keeping the network running. The casinos we read for our list of Ethereum casinos add no fee of their own on the deposit; the gas, though, you always pay, and at certain moments it counts.
The formula
The cost of a transaction is: units of gas used × gas price. The units depend on what you are doing; the price depends on how many people are using the network at that moment.
- Units of gas. A plain ETH send always uses 21,000 of them. A send of an ERC-20 token, such as USDT or USDC, uses more, because it is a call to the token’s contract.
- Gas price. Measured in gwei: one gwei is a billionth of an ETH. The wallet proposes a figure on its own, and you can raise it if you are in a hurry.
- The price of ETH in euros. That only serves to turn the cost into a number you can feel.
An example to redo with the day’s figures
Take an ETH send, so 21,000 units, and ETH at €3,000 as the assumption:
| Gas price | Cost in ETH | Cost in euros (ETH at €3,000) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 gwei | 0.000021 ETH | about €0.06 |
| 5 gwei | 0.000105 ETH | about €0.32 |
| 20 gwei | 0.00042 ETH | about €1.26 |
| 50 gwei | 0.00105 ETH | about €3.15 |
The figures in the table are arithmetic, not a forecast: the gas price and the price of ETH are in the wallet at the moment you send. The table is there to show the order of magnitude, and why, in the busy hours, a small deposit can lose a visible slice of itself to gas.
Gas and the minimum deposit
Three casinos write the ETH minimum: Wild.io 0.002, Rocketpot 0.01, Vave 0.0109934. The minimum refers to what reaches the casino. If the wallet pays the gas from that same balance, you need the minimum plus the gas. If you send “the whole balance” with the max button, the wallet takes the gas out of the amount and the casino receives less than you thought: if the difference carries you under the minimum, the deposit risks not being credited. Rocketpot writes that in that case the funds can be lost.
The L2s and the other networks
On the L2s, such as Arbitrum and Base, the same send usually costs far less than on the main network, because the transactions are written to Ethereum in batches. The saving, though, only exists if the casino takes that network. Of the casinos we read, Shuffle takes ETH on Base as well, while Rocketpot excludes Base and Arbitrum and Wild.io takes ETH on the main network only. What happens when you send from a network that is not accepted is set out in Ethereum networks.
Stablecoins: the network changes the minimum too
For USDT the choice of network shows up in the minimum already. At Vave the minimum USDT deposit is 5 on TRC-20, 3 on Solana and 19.99 on ERC-20, according to the table in its help centre (updated September 2023). At Rocketpot the minimum is 1 USDT on Tron and 5 on Ethereum. On the Ethereum network, then, even the minimum is higher. The rest on stablecoins is in USDT ERC-20.
Gas on the withdrawal
When you withdraw, the casino makes the transaction, and somebody has to pay the gas. Shuffle writes that the blockchain fee is taken out of the amount withdrawn: ask for 0.1 ETH and you receive 0.1 ETH less the gas. Rocketpot sets a minimum withdrawal of 0.0172 ETH. As a rule the cashier shows the figure you will receive before you confirm: that is the one to compare with what you asked for. Caps, documents and withdrawal minimums are in withdrawals in ETH.
Three habits that save money
- Deposit less often, not more. A deposit costs the same gas whether you send 0.02 ETH or 0.2 ETH. But deposit only what you have decided to play.
- Look at the gas before you confirm. If the estimate is high, you can wait for a quieter hour. No casino asks you to deposit in a hurry.
- Pick the cheapest network the casino takes. For USDT that is often not ERC-20. For ETH, if the casino takes an L2, it can be.
Gas is a real cost, but it stays small next to what is lost by playing. Whichever network you use, set a deposit limit in the account before you start.