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Encyclopedia Ethereum · Entry 127

Blob fees: a separate fee market for rollup data

AI-assisted research · separate automated verificationCorrections

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Ethereum
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3 cited records
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About 3 minutes
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In this article

At a glance

Key facts

Key facts for Blob fees: a separate fee market for rollup data
FactDetailSource
Separate meterBlob gas and ordinary execution gas use distinct accounting.[1]
Fee capThe transaction’s blob fee cap must cover the applicable blob base fee.[1]
FailureThe specified blob charge is burned and not refunded when execution fails.[1]
01

Identify the component being calculated

The specified blob fee multiplies total blob gas by the blob base fee. Total blob gas depends on the number of blobs and the active per-blob gas rule.

The ordinary execution fee is calculated separately. A transaction’s execution receipt fields alone may therefore omit part of the total amount paid.

02

Keep fork-specific constants dated

EIP-4844 documents the original mechanism and parameters. Later network upgrades can change capacity targets, limits and adjustment parameters, so an old table should not be presented as a current network configuration.

This article explains the mechanism without offering a live fee quote. A reproducible fee observation needs a chain, block and the active fork rules.

03

Data cost and a user quote are different levels

A rollup can batch many users’ data into its publication process. How those costs are allocated, alongside execution and other charges, depends on the rollup.

Blob data is handled through the consensus data-availability mechanism; it is not ordinary permanent EVM storage. Cheaper publication does not eliminate the need to understand retention and settlement.

Direct answers

Questions people ask

Can a contract read all blob contents directly as normal calldata?

No. EIP-4844 separates blob data from ordinary EVM-accessible calldata. BLOBHASH exposes versioned hashes, and the point-evaluation precompile can verify supplied KZG proofs against commitments.

Inspect the evidence

The answer and key facts have stable claim links. These records retain the scope and qualification when reused.

Blob-carrying Ethereum transactions pay a separate blob-gas charge in addition to execution gas. EIP-4844 introduced a demand-sensitive blob base fee and a blob fee cap. Rollups can use blobs for data publication, but their user fees also depend on execution, batching and the rollup’s own accounting rules.

Scope: Ethereum · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z.

Link to this claim
Separate meter: Blob gas and ordinary execution gas use distinct accounting.

Scope: Ethereum · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z.

Link to this claim
Fee cap: The transaction’s blob fee cap must cover the applicable blob base fee.

Scope: Ethereum · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z.

Link to this claim
Failure: The specified blob charge is burned and not refunded when execution fails.

Scope: Ethereum · data through 2026-10-02. Verification: verified · 2026-10-02T18:12:41.505Z.

Link to this claim
Revision history
  1. — First publication after primary-source research and independent automated verification.

Source register

Sources and references

Retrieval dates and locators are recorded individually.
  1. Shard Blob TransactionsEthereum Improvement Proposals

    Blob commitments, separate blob-gas fee calculations and temporary data availability.

    Locator: Gas accounting; Opcode to get versioned hashes; Point evaluation precompile; Consensus layer validation · Version / scope: EIP/ERC-4844; retrieved document hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:03:42.506ZOpen source
  2. OP Stack transaction feesOptimism

    Rollup execution, data-publication and operator fee components depend on active network upgrades.

    Locator: Gas fee components; Execution gas fee; L1 data fee; Operator fee · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:55:17.901ZOpen source
  3. Blob throughput increaseEthereum Improvement Proposals

    A later fork changes blob targets and limits relative to EIP-4844.

    Locator: Specification; Rationale · Version / scope: EIP/ERC-7691; retrieved document hash recorded · Retrieved: 2026-10-02T17:55:17.000ZOpen source
How this article was made

Research and drafting use AI assistance. A separate automated review checks claims against primary sources; no external expert or named human review is implied. Publication, substantive editing, source retrieval and verification are recorded separately. This version was independently checked by an automated reviewer on 2 October 2026.

Editorial method and corrections

Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Blob fees: a separate fee market for rollup data.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/ethereum-blob-fees/