249
"Gas Fees" in Gwei, at the time of writing this Article. Source: Etherscan.io Track Gwei
Gwei Basics
If you have spent time on any of the Ethereum (ETH) based Blockchains, or the NFT side of Twitter, you most likely have seen the term Gwei.
Commonly referred to as Gas, or Gas Fees, Gwei is a denomination of the Ethereum Crypto Currency, used in giving the green light for ETH's systems to conduct your transaction.
Transactions such as listing items for sale, transferring or swapping currencies, purchasing, and as well as creating NFTs all fall under the need to use Gwei. Conducting these transactions thankfully does not require you to swap your ETH for any other Coin, a big relief counting that every transaction is taxed by their system.
Okay, so small fees, big deal?
I would completely agree with you, had the small fees scaled with the absolute volume on the platform now. One of the biggest downfalls to the way Ethereum conducts their transactions -- as well as why I believe its' slang term refers to Petrol -- is that ETH runs off a non-carbon neutral set-up. As cool as that may be for a platform that is fairly casual with its usage, that is not the case with one of the Titans of the NFT industry. Any veteran of the NFT market from before this year can tell you: Gas Fees used to never fluctuate above $15 - $20 maximum.
It is not uncommon for Gwei fees to hit above $100+ in recent months.
Let's not even begin to talk about the infamous Gas Wars earlier this year, seeing Gas Fees hit upwards of a thousand dollars!
(Gas Wars describe when a large number of individuals fight for a small window of time to get an NFT without the Gas shooting up in price)
What gives me the most hope morally I guess you could say, and allows me to feel optimistic for the Platform (beyond the financial success) is that the ETH developers have acknowledged that their Blockchain has become too "Cramped" in a way. That it is time for ETH to grow beyond the stage its at to accommodate for its popularity.
Though it may sound slightly off topic at first, the one thing that I wish could be addressed is the number of Claim Bots that are able to slip through the cracks and exist within ANY blockchain. Especially on a Market such as Opensea, Rarible or the like where each Transaction matters and costs.
Whether you believe in it for Environmental Reasons, or purely business, going Carbon Neutral and reducing the Electric impact for servers during Crypto Mining and Blockchain Markets is essential in true global adaptation. For our Community to take that next leap, we have to all get on board with being able to operate at maximum efficiency while not sapping the watts out of the ground.
So with that said: Am I excited for the developments they are bringing to the table with the oh so beautiful gas-less MATIC network? Yes.
Not to mention, If ETH2 is half as good as it is being made out to be, we will be living lavish with faster/cheaper/greener transactions by the end of next year.
There is still a lot that needs to come to the table in terms of value per NFT for the other competitors in the Market to truly "compete".
However, the Carbon Neutral markets are not to be slept on. WAXP sits on top of the peak for Blockchain Gaming, which I will be discussing in the future here on Publish0x.
Thank you for joining me on my short ramblings, If you enjoyed catch my other work.
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