Ethereum Mining Fees Just Hit a New All-Time High

Ethereum fees hit a new all-time high of $1.771 million. IntoTheBlock data shows that the daily gas fee cost is 569 Gwei.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap surged to $1,162 earlier today, its highest level since Feb. 1, 2018, before a sharp correction in favor of bulls put a temporary reprieve from the excitement.

Ethereum transactions have never been more expensive

Gas fees — the fees paid for processing transactions on the blockchain — typically spike when demand surges. They are paid to miners, who are responsible for processing transactions on the network.

Ethereum miners collected a whopping $898,000 in fees in just one hour, a new all-time high, according to data from Glassnode.
The recent surge not only eclipsed the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector’s 2020 craze, but also managed to surpass the bubble inflated by ICOs in early 2018.
Automated market maker Uniswap and stablecoin operator Tether remain the biggest issues, accounting for the majority of fees spent over the past month.

Miners are the only winners

While the Ethereum community is popping champagne, there are some concerns about future value, as it means sending a single transaction could cost hundreds of dollars. This, in turn, could make Uniswap and other applications too unstable to use.
Ethereum 2.0 should solve network congestion and scaling issues, but if it doesn’t, developers may turn to rival networks like Cardano, which has already made strides in the DeFi space.
However, miners certainly want to keep the network congested because they will be able to charge high fees to people using Ethereum.