Bitcoin is on the lips of everyone that’s heard of crypto. But there’s another asset following it and arguably, the second most valued asset after bitcoin in the Blockchain world – Ethereum.
Why is this so?
First, because of its smart contract capability. This has made it the home for the development and deployment of some of the best and most used dApps in the world.
Ethereum also has connectivity that’s changing how business, governance, and other social activities will be done online by anyone anywhere. This is inherent in the Blockchain technology.
Other attributes include speed and scalability (where Ethereum block times occur between 10 to 15 seconds while bitcoin’s 10 minutes and an ether transaction takes five minutes to show up in contrast with 40 minutes for Bitcoin), disinflationary supply (that makes it hard for Ethereum to experience inflation) and the “look-alike” feel to bitcoin (for instance, as the price of bitcoin goes up or down, the same thing happens to Ethereum… however that is changing already as ethereum is creating its path by what it stands for).
But then, what is the case against Ethereum?
Gas fees – the fees required to conduct a transaction on Ethereum successfully.
Wait a minute…
So, Beeple, the artist who sold his NFT on Ethereum for more than $60m, made the world realize the potentials of NFTs yet, no one seems to look at the gas fees he paid while minting his NFTs.
What about users who buy NFTs and end up with nothing much to show for it… especially users who are gamers getting involved in “Play to Earn” activities.
Now, “Play to Earn” is as it sounds.
You earn money while playing games.
For example, one can make between $236 and $472 a month playing Axie games for two hours daily as explained by Ee Wui Yang, an experienced gamer in Axie and a crypto entrepreneur.
No excitement yet. This is because for you to play these games, one of the basic requirements is to have an NFT.
Compare that with your normal PS5. You don’t need any NFT. Just electricity and you’re good to go.
But here, your game is built on this digital asset. Now, Ethereum is telling you that to get this asset ready, you have to pay these fees.
In paying the fees, you’re not assured of a win to earn.
Yes, we understand there’s “investment for profit” but I think it should be reasonable.
So, as the Metaverse is developing and overlapping with Blockchain platforms, it’ll get more interesting with more users coming in.
If almost 3 billion people around the world play games with the global game market set to grow from $175.8 billion in 2021 to more than $200 billion in 2024 then there’s no going back.
So, for Ethereum gas fees, it’s a situation of either “making it cheaper” for gamers to come in and experience the fun of the future or innovation will create a product that will make it more convenient for gamers.
And if the latter happens, Ethereum might lose that market segment to another network.
Although there are other platforms available with reduced gas fees but not with enough infrastructures as Ethereum.
The question is, how long will this be? How long will gamers wait to earn more by paying less and less in gas fees?
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