To send your crypto to someone else, you need to pay network fees. Network fees (also known as gas fees) are charged by the blockchain network to process your transaction.
When you send a transaction, it needs to be processed and validated by the network. This involves the work of validators, who use their computers to validate transactions.
Any Ethereum user can become a validator and earn network fees. To do so, they usually need to stake at least 32 ETH. Unless you want to set up your own Ethereum validator, you need to pay network fees for someone to process your transactions.
A network fee's size depends on how busy the blockchain is, as well as the complexity of your transaction. The more transactions are waiting to be validated, the higher the fees get.
Network fees are measured in gwei. Gwei are units of Ether (ETH), much like cents are units of dollars.
Validators invest their time and resources into processing transactions. The fees they receive compensate for their efforts.
If you accidentally sent a transaction with a custom network fee that's too low, check out Handle pending or stuck transactions. If you want to cancel your transaction, check out Cancel transactions.