MetaMask has introduced a new feature that allows people to use a selection of tokens to pay gas fees when using MetaMask Swap for smart transactions.
Dubbed Gas Station, the innovation addresses a common issue faced by Ethereum users: transactions failing due to insufficient gas fees.
Details of the New Update
The crypto wallet provider announced the functionality in a February 4 post on X, stating that it will help users avoid transaction failures due to a lack of ETH for gas fees.
Such payments are required for processing transactions on the Ethereum network and must traditionally be settled in ETH. This often leaves users stranded if they do not have enough of the cryptocurrency in their wallet, forcing them to purchase it from an exchange before proceeding with their transaction.
“Being blocked by insufficient gas will no longer be a problem when swapping, thanks to MetaMask’s new Gas Station feature,” the company stated in an accompanying blog post.
The new functionality eliminates this issue by allowing clients to utilize select tokens to pay gas fees when using MetaMask Swap. Supported cryptocurrencies include USDT, USDC, DAI, ETH, wETH, wBTC, wstETH, and wSOL. Additionally, the new system ensures that network charges are already factored into the quoted price, providing a smoother experience.
The update is currently available on the MetaMask extension for the Ethereum mainnet, with a mobile release expected soon. It also maintains the wallet provider’s existing functionality of sourcing the best exchange rates from multiple liquidity providers, ensuring users receive competitive pricing.
Ethereum’s Gas Limit Increase
The introduction of the Gas Station feature comes at a pivotal moment for the Ethereum network, which is also undergoing an update of its own. Validators recently approved an increase in the blockchain’s gas limit, raising it from 30 million to a planned maximum of 36 million units. According to on-chain data, the average gas limit has already reached 35.6 million units as of February 5.
This marks the first adjustment since Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) and the most notable change since 2021 when the network doubled the limit from 15 million to 30 million. The increase is designed to enhance scalability, ease congestion, and support the growing demands of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Gas limits determine how much computational work can be handled in each block, directly impacting the number of transactions that can be processed. When demand exceeds capacity, fees rise as users compete for space.
By expanding the cap, Ethereum aims to improve efficiency, allowing more transactions to be processed per block and reducing overall congestion.
