Institutional crypto fund manager Grayscale Investments believes the introduction of the proposed EIP-1559 fee and burn mechanism could create “a positive feedback loop for Ether’s price” should network activity continue to increase on Ethereum. That’s because the proposal could result in Ether being burned at a rate exceeding the creation of new supply, significantly shifting the supply-demand dynamic underpinning the ETH markets. In Grayscale’s Feb. 4 report, Valuing Ethereum, the firm discussed the role Ether plays as a “consumable commodity” within the Ethereum ecosystem and considers the impact EIP-1559 could have on the network’s economics. EIP-1559 was proposed by Ethereum …

Global cryptocurrency exchange OKEx is moving to cheaper and faster Bitcoin (BTC) transactions with its upcoming Lightning Network integration. According to a Tuesday announcement, OKEx’s Bitcoin Lightning Network will be integrated “in the coming quarter,” making OKEx a participant node in the Lightning Network. The integration will allow OKEx users to select the Lightning Network option when depositing and withdrawing BTC, intending to decrease transaction fees and times. The Lightning Network is a second-layer scaling solution and payment protocol based on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. The protocol was suggested by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja in 2015 in an …

The number of projects adopting layer-two solutions for Ethereum’s scaling woes is increasing, with LuaSwap rolling out a new, TomoChain-based exchange engine yesterday. The change will enable the Uniswap inspired exchange to perform token swaps with greater speed and efficiency than many rival Automated Market Maker ERC-20 exchanges. 1/ #LuaSwap version on @TomoChainANN blockchain is live, entirely open to all $TOMO and Ethereum projects Users can now experience another $LUA version with: ✔️ Super speed ✔️ Near-zero gas fees ✔️ No network congestion Details: https://t.co/Be8claDkgT — LuaSwap (@LuaSwap) January 27, 2021 While LuaSwap remains an Ethereum-based application, transactions related to …

Bitcoin’s smart-contract-enabled sidechain RSK is introducing the concept of meta-transactions, which allow third parties to pay for a user’s transaction fees. Announced on Thursday, the “RIF Enveloping” solution enables wallet providers to pay for their users’ transactions. Paying transaction fees is currently a major bottleneck in the adoption of smart contract platforms. Users wishing to trade tokens must always have some units of the blockchain’s native currency — for example, Ether (ETH) for Ethereum and Smart Bitcoin (RBTC) for RSK. RIF Enveloping introduces meta-transactions to enable greater flexibility for decentralized application developers. Smart contracts using the technology can choose to …

Anyone who has used Ethereum in 2020 knows the frustration of paying for gas, the measure that represents a transaction’s computational weight. With gas prices sometimes rising up to 100 to 200 gwei, a unit equal to one billionth of an Ether (ETH), many users are finding themselves priced out of the action. While only a wide adoption of layer-two scaling solutions and the arrival of sharding can truly fix the situation, a few tricks can still help save some money when using the blockchain. The easiest trick is simply avoiding making transactions during certain times of the day. New …

The first Aave-friendly Ethereum to Matic bridge has opened for business, allowing users to port Aave’s interest-bearing aTokens back and forth between the DeFi protocol and the faster, cheaper layer-two network. The smart contract for the bridge was developed by Nick Mudge, Lead Solidity Developer of Aavegotchi. It differs from previous Ethereum to layer-two bridges as it interacts with the Aave protocol to keep track of interest being paid on aTokens locked up on the Ethereum side of the bridge. According to Mudge, the bridge’s smart contract converts user’s Aave aTokens — such as aUSDC, for example — to maTokens, …

Perpetual Protocol, a DeFi project offering decentralized perpetual contracts using the layer-two Ethereum scaling solution xDai, has emerged as the sixth-largest DEX by weekly trade volume after operating for only one month. Based on data from Dune Analytics shared by Perpetual Protocol, the DEX’s weekly trade volume of more than $299 million would rank the project above the likes of Synthetix, dYdX, and Kyber, and below Balancer. The milestone was shared in a blog post celebrating the project’s first month of operation — a period in which the DEX drove more than $500 million in total volume and generated more …

Ethereum network fees continue to climb, with the average value topping out at $17.43 per transaction, according to data from YCharts. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, average fees were at about $10.20 on Monday. The $17.43 per transaction constitutes an all-time high in average Ethereum fees, beating the previous record of $12.54 back in September during the height of decentralized finance mania. As of press time, Ethereum transaction fees have declined significantly, with a median fee of $1.63, based on data from Etherscan, ETH Gas Station and Gas Now. Yield-chasing on multiple DeFi platforms added to the transaction load of …

Decentralized finance project Aavegotchi is pushing back the mainnet launch of its non-fungible token digital collectible game due to high activity on the Ethereum blockchain. According to a Tweet from its team today, Aavegotchi will be postponing the Jan. 4 launch of its game in response to the “insanely high gas costs” and “extreme volatility” on Ethereum. The project also stated it will "most likely" migrate to the Matic Network — a smart-contract platform and layer two scaling solution for Ethereum. “Aavegotchi on L2 means no gas fees, faster transaction confirmations, and a great gaming experience," the project stated, adding …

Fees on the Ethereum network have reached an average of $10.20 per transaction as of Sunday, according to data from YCharts. The network's fees went higher on only two occasions in 2020, briefly averaging $12.54 in early September. They again rose to $11.69 near the middle of the same month. Ethereum network transactors faced high fees on and off last year as a partial result of the decentralized finance, or DeFi, boom, which utilized the blockchain for various lending and yield farming activities. At times, the high fees made it difficult for contributors to participate in DeFi activities. “#Ethereum gas …

A blockchain, in its essence, provides a digital record of transactions. At present, this most often pertains to transaction records for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The database of records, called blocks, is often touted for its transparency and immutability. But what do these features really mean? If you want to analyze a blockchain transaction, you first need to know how to use a block explorer. What is a block explorer? A block explorer is a crucial instrument in the toolbox of a cryptocurrency and blockchain user. Similar to web browsers that allow users to surf web pages, blockchain or block …

Despite Bitcoin’s surge to retest its 2017 highs, a combination of low on-chain transactions and diminished retail speculation has seen transaction fees remain low. The current fees of around $3.50 per transaction starkly contrast with three years ago, when the fees incurred to send any amount of BTC briefly spiked above $50. But average transaction values are currently approaching $200,000, suggesting the current rally has not been accompanied by the same retail trading frenzy that drove prices toward $20,000 in 2017. Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin doesn’t believe Bitcoin’s current low fees will last. In a Twitter thread, the Ethereum …