Fantom Gas Fees Are Surging, What’s Driving The Traffic?

23 Nov 2023

Key Takeaway

1. Fantom reached 2.945 million transactions, bringing gas fees to unprecedented highs. 
2. Fantom recently introduced the gas-heavy FRC-20 Protocol.
3. Gwei values soar, yet actual costs remain low.

Fantom’s Gas Fees Rise After FRC-20 Protocol Goes Live
On Thursday, November 22, Fantom’s blockchain witnessed a record-breaking number of transactions, reaching approximately 2.945 million. As a result, gas fees on the network surged to 11,000 gwei, far above the normal amount. 

This surge in activity coincides with the introduction of the Fantom Inscription FRC-20 protocol, similar to Bitcoin ordinals. The FRC-20 protocol has sparked significant interest in crypto, offering new possibilities for token inscription and NFT creation.

Despite the high gwei values, the actual gas fee cost on Fantom remains relatively low. This is considering that 1 Gwei equals 0.000000001 Fantom and that the current Fantom price is around $0.30. Therefore, the current gas fees on the Fantom blockchain, ranging from 11,000 to 12,000 Gwei, translate to approximately $0.0033 to $0.0036. 

Inscription Protocols Drive Gas Costs on Major Chains
Similarly to Fantom, inscription protocols are driving up volumes, along with gas fees on other major chains. For instance, Avalanche C-Chain has also seen a major surge in activity. On Thursday, driven by its Inscription ASC-20 protocol, the network surpassed 6.3 million transactions. 

Avalanche’s scalable architecture has so far managed to accommodate this spike without a substantial increase in gas fees. In contrast, the Bitcoin network experienced a noticeable surge in gas fees earlier in November, attributed to a spike in ordinal inscriptions. 

Ordinals are a relatively new concept within cryptocurrency, primarily associated with the Bitcoin network. They represent a method of inscribing unique data, such as images or texts, directly onto individual satoshis, the smallest units of a Bitcoin. 


On Brighter side
1. While Fantom maintains low gas fees despite high Gwei, such an equilibrium might be challenging to sustain as the network grows. 

2. While offering potential utility, ordinals face criticism over staggering gas costs and the potential to cause network congestion. 

Why This Matters
The emergence of inscription protocols is shaping the future of blockchain development. As these features become more prevalent, they are likely to influence how new blockchains are designed and how existing ones evolve.