V2 Transaction Cost Estimation

This page provides detailed cost breakdowns for V2 protocol transactions, derived from actual preprod transaction data. Understanding these costs helps developers budget for their applications and communicate fees to end users.

Cost Components

Every V2 transaction may include some or all of these cost types:

Cost Type	Description	Recoverable?
Transaction Fee	Network fee paid to stake pool operators	No
Service Fee	Protocol fee paid to Andamio treasury	No
UTxO Deposit	ADA locked in validator UTxOs with tokens	Yes (when tokens burned)
Min ADA	Minimum ADA required in token-bearing UTxOs	Yes (when tokens burned)

Transaction Cost Summary

Transaction	Tx Fee	Service Fee	Net UTxO Change	Total
Mint Access Token	~0.36 ADA	5 ADA	~2.5 ADA	~7.9 ADA
Create Course	~0.55 ADA	25 ADA	~19.7 ADA	~45.3 ADA
Update Teachers	~0.30 ADA	5 ADA	—	~5.3 ADA
Manage Modules	~0.27 ADA	—	~1.59 ADA/module	~1.86 ADA

Net UTxO Change = ADA locked in new protocol UTxOs minus ADA returned from spent UTxOs. Some transactions recycle existing UTxOs, reducing the net cost.

Detailed Breakdowns

Mint Access Token

Transaction ID: general.mint-access-token

The entry point to the Andamio ecosystem. Mints a user access token and creates global state.

Transaction Fee:        360,000 lovelace  (~0.36 ADA)
Service Fee:          5,000,000 lovelace  (5.00 ADA) → Protocol Treasury
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Fees Subtotal:        5,360,000 lovelace  (5.36 ADA)

UTxO Flow (Index Linked List):

The index validator maintains a sorted linked list of aliases. When a new user registers, their alias is inserted in the correct position:

Action	UTxO	ADA
Spent	Existing index node	-13.71 ADA (returned)
Created	New prev node	+1.25 ADA
Created	New next node	+1.25 ADA
Created	Global State V2	+1.26 ADA
	Net UTxO change	~2.51 ADA

Fees:                 5,360,000 lovelace  (5.36 ADA)
Net UTxO Change:      2,510,000 lovelace  (~2.51 ADA)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOTAL WALLET DELTA:  ~7,870,000 lovelace  (~7.9 ADA)

User Receives:

Access token u<alias> in wallet (~1.15 ADA min UTxO)
Global state entry in protocol

The existing index node being spent returns ~13.71 ADA which offsets the cost of creating new nodes. This is why the actual wallet delta (~7.9 ADA) is less than the sum of all new UTxO deposits.

Create Course

Transaction ID: course.admin.create

Creates a new course with initial teacher roster. This is the most expensive transaction due to the embedded script reference.

Transaction Fee:        545,540 lovelace  (0.546 ADA)
Service Fee:         25,000,000 lovelace  (25.00 ADA) → Instance Treasury
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Fees Subtotal:       25,545,540 lovelace  (25.55 ADA)

UTxO Deposits Created:

Validator	Token	Deposit	Notes
LocalStateNFT Validator	`LocalStateNFT`	1,236,970 lovelace	Course identity
LocalStateToken Validator	`LocalStateToken`	17,127,940 lovelace	Includes script_ref
Course Governance	`<courseId>`	1,370,580 lovelace	Teacher list

UTxO Deposits:       19,735,490 lovelace  (19.74 ADA)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOTAL COST:          45,281,030 lovelace  (~45.3 ADA)

The LocalStateToken validator UTxO contains an embedded script reference (~17 ADA), which enables course-specific validation logic. This is a one-time cost per course.

Course Admin Receives:

Course created with unique courseId
Governance token for managing teachers
Access token returned to wallet

Update Teachers

Transaction ID: course.admin.teachers-update

Add or remove teachers from a course. Uses the "spend and recreate" pattern—no new UTxOs created.

Transaction Fee:        303,720 lovelace  (0.304 ADA)
Service Fee:          5,000,000 lovelace  (5.000 ADA) → Instance Treasury
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOTAL COST:           5,303,720 lovelace  (~5.3 ADA)

UTxO Flow:

Course governance UTxO spent and recreated with updated teacher list
LocalStateNFT UTxO spent and recreated (unchanged)
No net change in locked ADA

Manage Modules

Transaction ID: course.teacher.modules-manage

Create, update, or burn course modules. No service fee for module management.

Single Module (2 SLTs):

Transaction Fee:        271,720 lovelace  (0.272 ADA)
Service Fee:                  0 lovelace  (0.000 ADA)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Fees Subtotal:          271,720 lovelace  (0.272 ADA)

UTxO Deposits Created:

Validator	Token	Deposit
Module Validator	`<slt_hash>`	1,590,390 lovelace

UTxO Deposits:        1,590,390 lovelace  (1.590 ADA)
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
TOTAL COST:           1,862,110 lovelace  (~1.86 ADA)

Batch Operations (Estimated):

Modules	Est. Tx Fee	Est. UTxO Deposits	Est. Total
1	~0.27 ADA	~1.6 ADA	~1.9 ADA
5	~0.35 ADA	~8.0 ADA	~8.4 ADA
10	~0.45 ADA	~16.0 ADA	~16.5 ADA

Module management has no service fee, making it economical for curriculum updates. The primary cost is the min ADA locked in module UTxOs.

Treasury Addresses

Protocol Treasury (access token fees):

addr_test1qqasyh8kdh742htuzy5rzwgn0hewg2d3m32gle2h4w38kwgqfz280z9xhpx7fv4p7a8y7xpp2nwl9p7k39e28z7jsmfqnvhuml

Instance Treasury (course operation fees):

addr_test1qpuptlg3kgtcq0rq8rq0z7w8pp0j7p98whvsg4wp6c0mngu7nalltfu076ak2qfw0p2ghn5svge4pm78gpfr6rl8rtrszh0nq3

Cost Optimization Tips

Batch module operations - Creating 5 modules in one transaction costs ~8.4 ADA vs ~9.3 ADA for 5 separate transactions (10% savings)
Plan teacher lists upfront - Each teacher update costs ~5.3 ADA, so include all initial teachers in course.admin.create
UTxO deposits are recoverable - When courses are closed or modules burned, the locked ADA returns to the appropriate wallet
No fee for module management - Teachers can freely iterate on curriculum without service fees

Data Source

All costs derived from actual preprod transactions (December 2024). Costs may vary based on:

Script complexity and execution units
Number of inputs/outputs
Datum sizes
Network conditions

See /drafts/example-txs/v2/ for raw transaction data.

V2 Cost Estimation