Ethereum’s fees higher than Bitcoin’s for a record two straight months
Published
3 Monaten ago
on
By
Ethereum (ETH) transaction fees have exceeded those on the Bitcoin (BTC) network for two months straight.
Crypto market data aggregator Messari tweeted about the streak on October 8, noting it is the longest period that Ethereum’s transaction fee revenue has exceeded Bitcoin’s in the crypto asset’s history.
Ethereum fees have been higher than Bitcoin fees for 2 months straight. It’s longest streak ever pic.twitter.com/2KgnNBcrrT
Ethereum fees skyrocketed into new all-time highs during August as the decentralized finance (DeFi) bubble began to shift into high-gear. The smart contracts underpinning DeFi protocols typically require the execution of multiple Ethereum transactions, exacerbating network congestion.
Average Ethereum fees currently sit at roughly $2, down from September’s record high above $14.
The surge in transaction costs has reignited vigorous debate within the Ethereum community as to how the network should adapt in the interim before the completion of ETH 2.0’s roll-out, which is currently expected some time in 2022.
On Oct. 8, ConsenSys developer Tim Beiko published the findings from a survey gauging the sentiment of 25 teams building on Ethereum regarding what is known as the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-1559.
EIP-1559 proposes reforming Ethereum’s fee market to adopt a fixed rate network fee for each block including a small tip for miners. A share of the fees would be burned according to congestion levels at the time of the block’s creation.
Of those surveyed, 60% responded in favor of EIP-1559, with roughly 13% expressing negative sentiment, and 27% offering a neutral opinion. The teams included exchanges, wallets, on-chain applications, and miners. Developers responded favorably to EIP-1559’s gas price predictability and burn mechanism. Beiko reported:
“The main benefits that projects see with EIP-1559 are the predictability of gas prices, especially for projects who set them for their users, and the fact that ETH is burnt in each transaction.”
However, frequently expressed qualms regarding EIP-1559 included the possible impact on miners’ revenue, concerns surrounding its implementation, and the lack of formal specifications surrounding the proposal.
Unsurprisingly, eight of the nine mining firms queried asserted they would reject EIP-1559 if it was introduced as a hard fork.
Crypto enthusiasts could make $122K per year mining Ethereum with this setup
Published
32 Sekunden ago
on
Dezember 29, 2020
By
Simon Byrne has taken at-home crypto mining to a whole new level as he looks to capitalize on Ethereum’s (ETH) enormous price potential.
As first reported by Anthony Garreffa, Byrne has set up an ETH mining rig consisting of 78 GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards. Although the RTX 3080 is marketed toward high-end PC gamers, crypto miners are using these powerful specs to enhance their capabilities.
With each card using roughly 300W of power, Byrne’s setup uses 23.4KW of energy. And that doesn’t even factor in associated costs like AC. All said, his electricity bill is estimated to run up to around $2,166 per month.
The RTX 3080 launched in September at a price of $699, but supply shortages have caused the per-unit cost to swell to $1,199. At the shortage price, that’s a price tag of $93,522 for Byrne’s setup.
Still, these costs could be offset by the operation’s mining capability. One GeForce RTX 3080 graphic card has a hash rate of around 83MH/s using Ethash, which should generate roughly 0.22236870 ETH per month, according to Garreffa. All 78 cards would therefore generate 17.3 ETH per month, which is equivalent to around $12,352 at today’s prices.
Stripping away the electricity costs, that’s roughly $10,200 per month or $122,000 per year. And that’s not factoring in Ethereum’s price potential during the next bull market.
Ether’s price zipped past $700 over the weekend, the first such move since mid-2018. The return of altseason, as some have predicted, could send ETH’s price even higher over the medium term as investors cycle from Bitcoin to other large-cap cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin price rally cools down as Polkadot gains 34% in first week of ‘altseason’
Published
11 Stunden ago
on
Dezember 29, 2020
By
Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $26,000 on Dec. 29 as fresh fallout from Ripple’s threatened U.S. lawsuit was felt throughout crypto markets.
Cryptocurrency market overview. Source: Coin360
BTC price dips as Coinbase halts XRP trading
Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $25,830 during Tuesday trading.
$27,000 support failed to hold overnight, sparking a retest of lower levels which now center on $26,000. At the weekend, Bitcoin hit all-time highs of $28,400 before swiftly reversing.
The latest losses come as XRP, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, hits $0.23 thanks to major U.S. exchange Coinbase opting to suspend trading from next month. The reason is a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which threatens to classify XRP as an unlicensed security and make trading it all but impossible.
“There is going to be a rangebound construction, after which 2021 will most likely break out again,” Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michaël van de Poppe summarized about Bitcoin’s short-term perspectives in a video update on Monday.
Analyst braced for altseason
Van de Poppe is eyeing altcoins as next in line to see major gains. XRP notwithstanding, the market is already showing signs of life, with Ether (ETH) climbing above $700 for the first time since May 2018 this week.
Another winner on Tuesday was Polkadot (DOT), now the seventh-largest token by market cap, which saw a 22.5% daily rise, capping weekly performance of nearly 34%.
For Van de Poppe, the next “impulse wave” on Bitcoin in 2021 should take the market to $40,000 or $50,000, but “until then, altcoins will most likely do well.”
He additionally pointed to a likely top in Bitcoin market cap dominance, which at almost 70% should soon give way to altcoin presence. December tends to see BTC dominance peaks, with 2017, the time of Bitcoin’s first attempt to crack $20,000, a notable comparison.