BEP-20 is the token standard for the BNB Smart Chain, analogous to ERC-20 on Ethereum. Transferring BEP-20 tokens costs more in gas than a simple BNB transfer because token contract interactions require additional computational steps.
Why BEP-20 Fees Are Higher Than BNB Transfers
A standard BNB transfer consumes 21,000 gas units. By contrast, a BEP-20 token transfer requires approximately 65,000 gas units because it involves calling the token smart contract's transfer function. Smart contract execution is more computationally intensive than a simple value transfer.
BEP-20 Fee Formula
To estimate your BEP-20 transfer fee:
Fee = 65,000 gas × Gas Price (Gwei) ÷ 1,000,000,000 = BNB cost
At the standard 3 Gwei gas price: 65,000 × 3 ÷ 1,000,000,000 = 0.000195 BNB (approximately $0.09 at current BNB prices).
Common BEP-20 Token Transfer Costs
- USDT (BEP-20): ~65,000 gas = ~$0.09 at normal congestion
- BUSD (BEP-20): ~65,000 gas = ~$0.09
- CAKE: ~65,000 gas = ~$0.09
- Complex DeFi interactions: 150,000–400,000 gas depending on protocol
Zero-Fee BEP-20 Stablecoin Transfers
BNB Chain's Zero Fee Carnival campaign has subsidized over $4.5 million in stablecoin gas fees to date. Eligible stablecoins (USDC, USD1, U) transferred peer-to-peer between supported wallets pay zero network fees. This initiative demonstrates how BEP-20 fee costs can be driven to near zero for everyday stablecoin transactions.
BNB Fee Guide Team
