Key Takeaways:
- 1.2 million Ethereum failed transaction was registered in May.
- Gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain have dropped 90% in the past month.
- ‘Charging for failed transaction preventing DDoS-like attacks on Ethereum network’.
LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — In addition to the current turbulence affecting the cryptocurrency space, reports have emerged that the Ethereum blockchain network is also making life difficult for some users.
In detail, Ethereum’s failed transaction count soared by a whopping 7.5 million in early this month alone. According to a Reddit post, from June 1 till today Ethereum network has charged consumers for millions of failed transactions.
Data from blockchain data analytical platform, Blockchair indicated that a user was charged over 30,000,000 gas for a failed transaction. Corroborating Blockchair’s information, the Reddit post noted that on June 4, a failed transaction cost a customer 28,527,830 gas.
Notably, the amounts of failed transactions recorded so far in June have surpassed the figure registered last month. Blockchair indicated that exactly 1,228,131 Ethereum transactions failed between May 1 and May 31. Additionally, the figure is up by 200,000 from what was recorded in April.
The increased number of failed transactions recorded on Ethereum has been credited to the current cryptocurrency price collapse. As a result, the blockchain network and the entire crypto industry have been enduring one of the heaviest downtrends in digital currency history.
Moreover, it is worth noting that gas fees or transaction costs on Ethereum have dropped significantly over the past month. At the time of publication, the average transaction fee on Ethereum is down by 90%, now around $4.5 from nearly $45 a month ago.
What Is Ethereum Gas, And Why Do Consumers Pay For Failed Transactions?
Meanwhile, you might be wondering what Ethereum gas is, its usefulness, and why they still charge users even for failed transactions.
Notably, the Ethereum network requires gas to execute transactions on the blockchain network. Therefore, you must pay for that computation when sending tokens or performing any action on the Ethereum blockchain. Notably, Ether (ETH) is the fuel used for this purpose.
Furthermore, the way Ethereum was designed, you are paying for the computation, regardless of whether your transaction succeeds or fails. Usually, when sending tokens, the principal value of the transaction does not leave your address, but the gas fee is deducted because of the computational cost incurred.
Additionally, transaction failures may also occur due to several different reasons, which might include the following:
- Insufficient amount of gas limit provided
- If the wrong sender signs transactions or someone attempts to send negative funds.
- Contract execution exceeds the minimum gas limit required
- Contract execution error occurred, but the VM execution continued until all gas limits were exhausted.
Crypto Community Share Mixed Reactions Concerning Gas Fees
Meanwhile, several consumers have expressed mixed reactions to the idea of charging for failed transactions. For example, a user on Reddit @Tin bemoaned the blockchain platform action of retaining gas fees when transactions failed to complete.
Another user, via his Twitter account, questioned Ethereum’s ability to be a viable network if it still charges high gas fees. He said:
“Until Ethereum gas fees are $1 or less per transaction, I basically consider it a failed protocol. It is completely unusable for normal human transactions in its current state.”
However, another user pointed out that getting charged for a failed transaction protects the Ethereum network from DDoS-like attacks. He explained that the gas fee prevents hackers from carrying out large-scale attacks via the network.
“If transactions weren’t charged if they failed, the network would become unusable as “bad actors” would just spam transactions they know would fail.”
He said.
