Transferring ether will no longer consistently incur the same network fee, marking a shift in one of Ethereum’s longstanding guidelines.
In a recent blog entry, developers from the Ethereum Foundation—the organization responsible for the network’s support and maintenance—advised wallet developers, blockchain observatories, and fee estimators to revise any software that assumes a standard ETH transfer will always require 21,000 gas units. Gas represents the metric Ethereum uses to quantify the effort a transaction demands from the network, with users compensating for this effort in ETH.
Currently, the 21,000 gas fee is applicable regardless of whether the recipient account is established or not. Following the upcoming significant update known as Glamsterdam, transferring to an existing account will still incur 21,000 gas units, while sending to a new address that has no prior records in Ethereum will result in a higher fee since the network has to create and retain a new account.
The newly proposed additional cost is set at 183,600 units under a different classification termed state gas.