Wei

Wei is a crucial concept within the Ethereum network, serving as the smallest denomination of ether, which is the cryptocurrency coin used on this platform. To put it into perspective, one ether is equivalent to 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 wei (10^18). Essentially, one wei is one quintillionth of an ether.

With the exponential growth of cryptocurrency values, questions often arise regarding how to manage change for digital asset tokens like ether. Unlike traditional U.S. currency, which is only divisible into 100 parts with a penny serving as the atomic unit, digital cryptocurrencies can be divided into significantly smaller units.

To effectively represent the quantity of a transaction that may seem like a minuscule fraction in terms of ether but holds substantial value when converted into U.S. dollars or other real-world currencies, new units have been established to accurately identify and facilitate these transactions.

Named after Wei Dai, a prominent cryptography activist advocating for the widespread use of robust cryptography and privacy-focused technologies, wei is the smallest unit of the Ethereum cryptocurrency, ether.

Ether features various names for its different wei sub-units, each denoting specific quantities (e.g., a kwei representing a kilo, meaning a thousand wei). Moreover, these units have informal monikers as well - for instance, a kwei is also known as a "babbage," while a gwei is commonly referred to as a "shannon."