Native coin

Also called: Gas token

A network's own coin, such as ETH, BNB, POL, TRX or BTC, the one its fees are paid in; tokens can't pay their own transfer fees.

Every network has one coin built into it: ETH on Ethereum (and on Base and Lisk), BNB on BNB Chain, POL on Polygon, TRX on Tron, BTC on Bitcoin. Network fees are paid in that coin.

This is the source of a common surprise: a wallet full of USDT that can't send USDT. A token transfer is a call to a smart contract, and its fee must be paid in the native coin. No native coin, no transfer.

Where it matters:

Payout wallets that only ever receive stablecoins.
Customer deposit addresses that receive tokens and need to be swept.
Busy days when fees rise and a small native balance runs out.

Bitcoin is the exception: its fee comes out of the coins being sent, so nothing needs topping up.

On Valtu

A gas wallet holds each network's native coin and tops up payouts and sweeps with exactly what they need, within a daily cap. Each network page says which coin pays its fees.

Related terms

Keep reading.

GasThe unit of work on Ethereum and other EVM networks; a transaction's fee is the gas it uses times the price per unit, paid in the network's native coin. Gas walletA wallet holding each network's native coin that tops up other wallets with exactly the fee they need, so wallets holding only tokens can still send. TRON energyThe resource Tron uses to pay for running smart contracts, so every TRC-20 transfer needs it; without energy, the network burns TRX instead. SweepMoving confirmed deposits from many customer addresses into one wallet the business controls, an internal move that doesn't change what the customer is owed.

More in network fees: Nonce · UTXO · Replace-by-fee · Native SegWit · TRON bandwidth · Dust. The whole glossary.

Start free on testnets Read the integration guide

Put it into practice.

Every workspace starts on testnets with free test coins: same dashboard, same API. Go live when your team is ready.

Get started Talk to sales