Ethereum user pays more in gas fees than the transaction value itself

Key Takeaways

• CoinGecko Co-Founder Bobby Ong paid more in Ethereum gas fees than the transaction value
• Ong took to Twitter to express his shock at the staggerig gas fees
• High gas fees on the Ethereum network has been a topic of wide debate since months

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Criticism about the high cost of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain has become commonplace. The exuberant gas fees Ethereum charges, coupled with slow transactions owing to its congested network, have been hard to digest. 

Earlier this month, a lengthy debate broke out over the issue on Twitter.

Several former supporters joined seasoned critics in denouncing Ethereum for its inability to fix the problem.

Su Zhu, the CEO of Three Arrows Capital sparked a spat on social media when he declared he is abandoning Ethereum. While many did not agree with him, his tweet also revealed several users who had been rendered helpless due to Ethereum’s exorbitant gas fees.

The problem also received blame when ConstitutionDAO failed to acquire a unique copy of the US constitution at Sotheby’s auction earlier this month. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin outbid the optimistic group by $3 million, ultimately buying the coveted exhibit at a whopping $43.2 million. 

Over 17,000 people participated in what came to be known as one of the largest crowdfunding projects ever. With all their efforts, they had succeeded in amassing over $40 million.

Angry users soon began pointing fingers at Ethereum for their unsuccessful bid. Had the network not charged such high fees, they would not fall short of the winning bid. 

Dennis Hegstad, co-founder of LiveRecover cut the chase and went straight to what seemed to be obvious.

“If the gas fees didn’t exist; the gas fees spent would have made up the different of winning the auction,”

he claimed on Twitter.

However, despite all the anger and criticism, not much has changed. People continue to point out on a daily basis that they are having to pay unnecessary high gas fees on transactions.

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CoinGecko’s Co-Founder stunned at Ethereum gas fees

Newbie cryptocurrency enthusiasts getting shocked by high gas fees on the Ethereum network has become an everyday thing. However, sometimes big players cannot contain themselves from expressing their bewilderment over the same.

Bobby Ong, Co-Founder of popular cryptocurrency data platform CoinGecko faced a similar situation with Ethereum’s gas fees earlier today.

Sounding aghast, Ong revealed how he had to shell out more in gas fees than the amount he sent. 

 “Here we go again with insanely high gas prices on Ethereum. Just spent $80+ to make a small ERC20 token transfer. Gas price > token transfer value,”  

he tweeted, seemingly rattled.

Of course, users were quick to point out that he could have used Layer 2 (L-2) instead of L1 to avail himself of lower gas fees. However, Ong clarified that he was sending ERC-20 tokens and had to use the L1 for the same. 

Interestingly, despite implementing the EIP-1559 as a part of its London hard fork upgrade in early August, Ethereum has failed to stabilize gas prices.

Blockchain data provider Glassnode claimed earlier this month that Ethereum’s mean gas prices were up to 171 gwei. According to the agency, that marked a 5-month high.

While Ethereum (ETH) continues to make humble gains to recover from the dip in the market, the high gas fees remain a serious blot on the network’s practicality.