Ethereum gas fees briefly increase due to Vitalik Buterin-themed NFT collection
Vitalik Buterin-themed NFT Collection Tops Ethereum’s Gas Usage
A new NFT collection paying homage to Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, has taken the blockchain by storm, becoming the top gas guzzler on Friday and causing a temporary spike in Gwei.
Gas Spike and Usage
The project, known as Buterin Cards, managed to consume 13.1% of the total gas units on Ethereum over the past three hours, as of 3:00 p.m. ET. This placed it ahead of the Uniswap universal router address and Tether’s public address, according to data from the Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan. Transactions related to the Buterin Cards collection racked up a hefty 318.31 ETH in fees, equivalent to around $665,670, over the last 24 hours. However, after the initial spike, gas usage has now fallen back behind Uniswap.
What are Buterin Cards?
The Buterin Cards project is designed to create 2,015 NFTs honoring Vitalik Buterin. Unique to this project is the use of an NFT minting process called JPEG mining, which directly stores image data on-chain, as opposed to the typical NFTs that only store metadata on-chain.
The project’s website explains that, “To prevent miners from uploading arbitrary data, the smart contract verifies the data’s correctness by computing its hash. Thanks to progressive JPEG technology, the NFT image is gradually revealed as it is mined.”
Miners who participate in the process are rewarded with a card featuring an image of Vitalik Buterin at varying quality levels.
Impact on Gas Usage
The sudden surge in gas usage caused by the Buterin Cards project illustrates the growing popularity and influence of NFT collections and the impact they can have on the Ethereum network. This is highlighted by the fact that the project managed to surpass well-established addresses such as Uniswap and Tether in gas usage.
On the other hand, some Ethereum enthusiasts have raised concerns about the environmental impact of NFTs due to their high gas consumption, particularly as Ethereum transitions to a proof-of-stake mechanism.
Overall, the Buterin Cards project has garnered significant attention within the cryptocurrency community, demonstrating the potential of NFTs to push the boundaries of blockchain technology. As the popularity of NFTs continues to rise, it remains to be seen how their impact on gas usage and the Ethereum network will evolve in the future.
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