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Ethereum (ETH) Fees Reach Highest Level in History

Thu, 08/13/2020 - 14:42
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Alex Dovbnya
Ethereum fees set a new record high as mining profitability reaches a two-year high
Ethereum (ETH) Fees Reach Highest Level in History
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According to data provided by CoinMetrics, Ethereum's gas fees reached a new lifetime high of $6.87 mln on Aug. 12.

Remarkably enough, the new peak dwarfs the previous one ($4.55 mln) recorded back in January 2018 when ETH reached $1,391.

Ethereum fees
Image by @coinmetrics

Farming and mining

At one point, an average Ethereum fee climbed to 345 Gwei ($2.81) for just one transaction.

Ethereum's fees reaching a new record coincided with the emergence of short-lived farming protocol Yam, which allowed users to stake DeFi tokens in order to participate in the project's governance.

After managing to attract over $585 mln, the project’s YAM token ended up collapsing 98 percent in one day due to a crucial rebase bug.

While speculators are willing to fork out enormous fees to navigate the DeFi craze, Ethereum’s mining profitability skyrocketed to the highest level since May 2018, BitInfoCharts shows.

Related
Ethereum's True Supply Finally Calculated

Ethereum on the brink

As reported by U.Today, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin found himself in quite a predicament after Bitcoin maximalists did not hesitate to recall his old quote about how a cryptocurrency transaction should not cost more than 5 cents:

The internet of money should not cost 5 cents a transaction. It’s kind of absurd.

Other rival protocols have also jumped at the opportunity to trash the leading altcoin by market cap. Nick White, co-founder of proof-of-stake blockchain Harmony, claims that Ethereum is "DeFi for the 1 percent":

Yield farming is for rich tech bros who can afford the $50 fees. Ironically the global unbanked who actually need DeFi are priced out.

          
            
                           
          
   
         
                        
                         
         
       

Etherians believe that the rollout of the Ethereum 2.0 upgrade will fix the scaling problem, but its slow delivery might be an opportunity for another project to take over.

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About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.