Ethereum Gas Fees Hit Astronomical Highs as Yuga Labs Sells Metaverse NFTs Worth $320 Million

The Ethereum network, which has seen a drastic decline in its gas fees since Q3 of 2021, has seen a new surge, taking fees to a ridiculous new high.

The Ethereum network, which has seen a drastic decline in its gas fees since Q3 of 2021, has seen a new surge, taking fees to a ridiculous new high.

Yuga Labs Sells Over $300 Million in NFTs

Yuga Labs, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection creator, launched the sale of Otherdeeds, which represent digital land deeds on their new venture, the Otherside metaverse.

Sponsored

Almost immediately after the much-anticipated Otherdeeds sale was launched, Yuga Labs sold 55,000 NFTs worth over $319 million. Unfortunately, while NFTs could be minted with ApeCoin, they required ETH to pay the gas fees.

Ethereum Gas Fees Hit Astronomical Highs

As the sale intensified on May 1, Ethereum gas fees skyrocketed to new highs. According to Ethereum Gas Tracker, users paid between $3,800 and up to $6,500 (some reported $14,000) to complete transactions on the Ethereum network.

Ethereum gas tracker. Source: Etherscan

Otherdeed was the biggest gas contributor on Ethereum, growing by more than 42,000% on May 1.

As of 09:43 UTC, the gas price of Ethereum has dropped down to as low as $2.63 per transaction.

Ethereum gas tracker. Source: Etherscan

On The Flipside

  • More than 71,700 ETH, or over $200 million, was burned at peak demand, pushing ETH issuance into the deflationary territory by 18%.

Why You Should Care

The persisting issue of gas fees on the Ethereum network is expected to be permanently fixed by the upcoming Merge.

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Milko Trajcevski

Milko Trajcevski is a DailyCoin news reporter, mainly focused on Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and their founders (Vitalik Buterin and Charles Hoskinson). Milko is an avid follower of crypto and blockchain technology and has written thousands of articles on the subjects. He finds joy in transforming complex issues into written content that anyone can understand. Milko has used and analyzed numerous exchanges, such as Coinbase, FTX, and Binance. He also closely follows all of the latest news around the largest decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Location: Skopje, Macedonia