Gas fees on Ethereum spike to 174 gwei, impacting NFT transactions and token swaps. Uniswap burns over $4.2 million worth of ETH in a day. Dencun upgrade expected to reduce fees significantly.
Ethereum has witnessed a surge in its price, reaching $3,600, causing a substantial increase in gas fees due to heightened network traffic.
As per Etherscan data, gas fees soared beyond 174 gwei by midday on Monday, impacting traders with significant expenses for transactions within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The surge in fees has notably affected various activities. For instance, executing a standard NFT transaction on Ethereum (ETH) incurred users a cost exceeding $372.29 during peak times on Monday.
Similarly, Ethereum's token swaps and borrowing transactions faced prohibitive costs, reaching upwards of $220 and $186, respectively. Transferring funds to another blockchain averaged over $70 in transaction fees.
Uniswap, a pivotal player in the Ethereum ecosystem, emerged as the largest consumer of gas, burning over $4.2 million worth of ETH in transactions in a single day. The fee hike coincides with substantial value surges in cryptocurrencies and NFTs, with Ethereum achieving a milestone of $3,500 for the first time since early 2022, and a CryptoPunks NFT fetching over $16 million worth of ETH.
The timing precedes Ethereum's Dencun upgrade, designed to reduce transaction costs through proto-danksharding. Scheduled for March 13, this upgrade is anticipated to significantly lower gas fees, with various layer-2 developers suggesting it could make such charges nearly obsolete.
'We're entering a world where most users won't experience gas at all,' stated David Silverman, Polygon Labs' VP of Product, hinting at a future where the transaction costs on Ethereum could be significantly minimized.