Ethereum is the most popular blockchain platform for the development of blockchain-powered applications (a.k.a, \dapps). Developing a \dapp involves translating requests captured in the frontend of an application into contract transactions. However, transactions need to be payed for. Ethereum employs the gas system to charge transaction fees. The gas system has three key components, namely gas price, gas usage, and gas limit. We refer to these components and their interplay as the gas triangle. In this paper, we claim that the inherently complex gas triangle should \textit{not} be exposed to end-users. We conduct two studies that provide empirical evidence to support our claim. In light of our results, we provide a list of recommendations to novice end-users. We conclude the paper with a list of research challenges that need to be tackled in order to support the development of next-generation \dapps that completely hide the gas triangle from end-users.
Yibo Wang Syracuse University, Qi Zhang Syracuse University, Kai Li Syracuse University, Yuzhe Tang Syracuse University, Jiaqi Chen Syracuse University, Xiapu Luo Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ting Chen University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
Yibo Wang Syracuse University, Qi Zhang Syracuse University, Kai Li Syracuse University, Yuzhe Tang Syracuse University, Jiaqi Chen Syracuse University, Xiapu Luo Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Ting Chen University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
