ETHGas

ETHGas is a real-time infrastructure protocol built on Ethereum that turns blockspace, the capacity in each Ethereum block that decides which transactions get included and at what cost, into a structured and tradable asset. The platform also works as a hybrid exchange that combines a central limit order book with a non-custodial smart contract that holds validator collateral. Instead of users bidding blindly for transaction inclusion every 12 seconds, ETHGas lets this process happen earlier, allowing blockspace to be bought and sold up to 64 blocks in advance.

The protocol supports several user groups at once. Traders and decentralized apps can buy inclusion preconfirmations, which guarantee their transactions will be included in a specific block, or execution guarantees that lock in both inclusion and price. This is especially useful for arbitrage, liquidations, and complex DeFi strategies. Validators benefit by earning a steady income from selling future blockspace instead of relying only on spot MEV auctions. ETHGas says this can boost validator rewards by eight to ten times if fully adopted. For regular users, the Open Gas Initiative lets protocols and apps cover gas fees completely, making transactions feel gasless without changing how gas works. The protocol has been audited by Sigma Prime and claims to handle over 10,000 transactions per second with block times as fast as 50 milliseconds.

ETHGas was founded in 2024 and is based in Gibraltar. In mid-2024, it raised about $5 million in a pre-seed round from investors like Baboon VC, BlueYard Capital, Morningstar Ventures, and Ouroboros Capital. The platform launched on Ethereum mainnet in 2025, and by the end of that year, it was handling a small single-digit share of Ethereum blockspace. In December 2025, ETHGas announced a $12 million seed round led by Polychain Capital and joined by Stake Capital, BlueYard Capital, Lafayette Macro Advisors, SIG DT, and Amber Group. ETHgas also secured $800 million in blockspace commitments from Ethereum validators, builders, and relays, showing strong support from the supply side.

The protocol’s native token is $GWEI, an ERC-20 governance token capped at 10 billion tokens. Holders can stake GWEI to get veGWEI, a non-transferable token that gives voting power over ETHGas’s product roadmap, economic settings, and incentive programs. The token doesn’t represent equity or a claim on protocol revenues, nor is it needed to access blockspace markets. Its main purpose is to let the community guide the development of what ETHGas calls Realtime Ethereum.

GWEI tokens are traded on public marketplaces like CEX and DEX, as well as private over-the-counter (OTC) desks. For example, Acquire.Fi’s crypto secondaries marketplace connects verified buyers with early investors and even ETHGas team members selling GWEI OTC.

The marketplace also works the other way. Token holders can sell GWEI OTC by browsing deals and making offers to the sellers.

If no deals match their needs, anyone can create a new Buy or Sell offer with their preferred price and limits. Our team will help make sure the offer is seen, connect the parties, and support a secure OTC transaction.