Cryptocurrency enthusiasts often – rightfully – complain about mounting Bitcoin transaction prices. Paying a Dollar or more to send money over the internet sounds incredibly expensive. Unfortunately, Bitcoin is not the only currency suffering from high fees. The Ethereum gas price has gone through the roof as well as of late. Deploying a smart contract costs close to US$3 as of right now.
Ethereum Gas Prices Are On The Rise
To put this concept into perspective, one has to keep in mind everyone can set the gas price manually. This means the chances of accepting said action or transaction are slightly lower than normal. However, a lot of Ethereum miners will include low gas prices and broadcast the information to the network regardless. The fact this setting is found in the “advanced” section of most Ethereum clients does not help matters all that much, though.
One Reddit user voiced some concerns regarding the gas price. Deploying a 100-line smart contract costs US$3 in gas with standard settings. That is quite a steep amount for a contract that isn’t overly complicated by any means. Lowering the gas price would have been an option, but it seems there is a bit of confusion regarding the fees. The price rise of Ethereum also makes gas more expensive, which makes everything more confusing.
It is important not to ignore rising gas prices by any means, though. The Bitcoin transaction fees started out in the same manner. Fast forward to today, and paying a multi-dollar fee has almost become the norm in Bitcoin. That should not be the same for Ethereum by any means. It is possible the prices will sort themselves out, though. The introducing of Raiden, sharding, and switching to proof-of-stake will all help alleviate these concerns. These last two features will not be enabled anytime soon, though.
For the average user, these mounting gas prices are of great concern. Very few people will take the time to dabble around in the advanced settings of the client. Wallet developers may want to change the default fee to a much lower number. All Ethereum clients could use the same update as well. This problem defines a crucial moment in the history of Ethereum, that much is evident.
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