docs / arc network / usdc-as-gas
USDC as gas
How fees work when the gas token is a dollar.
Fee model
Arc denominates all transaction fees in USDC. Pricing follows EIP-1559 with EWMA smoothing so the base fee moves slowly and predictably. The published target is about $0.001 per ERC-20 transfer.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Gas token | USDC (native) |
| Native decimals | 18 |
| ERC-20 interface | 0x3600000000000000000000000000000000000000 (6 decimals) |
| Fee model | EIP-1559 + EWMA |
| Target fee | ~$0.001 per ERC-20 transfer |
| Minimum maxFeePerGas | 20 Gwei |
| Gas per block | 30M gas/block |
18 vs 6 decimals
The native gas balance is accounted in 18 decimals, like ETH. The ERC-20 view of the same balance uses 6 decimals, like USDC everywhere else. They are one balance. Applications should show a single USDC row and quote fees in dollars, not Gwei.
Set maxPriorityFeePerGas to 0 or a small tip such as 1 Gwei. A maxFeePerGas below 20 Gwei is rejected by the mempool.