By Larry Wright
The new upgrade EIP-1559 went live on the Ethereum network two days ago. In a matter of two days, the new upgrade has shifted the traditional auctioned fees for miners and replaces it with a new algorithm-based alternative. The new upgrade is one part of the five major changes that are included in the London Hard Fork event.
EIP-1995 has burned $30 million worth of ETH tokens in a matter of two days. Users can still opt to tip the miners if they prefer. However, the fees are transferred to a burning algorithm rather than being awarded to the miners. With the completion of London Hard Fork, Ethereum 2.0 will merge once again with the mainnet, and the Proof-of-Work consensus will be replaced by the Proof-of-Stake model.
One of the largest fee-burning events was set off by a new NFT craze on the Ethereum network. Keeping in view the popularity of the Cyberpunks NFT project, a digital artist recently introduced 10,000 unique COVIDpunks NFT on the network. Since last week the project has become a new sensation among art lovers and resulted in the burning of 528 ETH tokens that are valued at $1.6 million at present.
The largest ETH gas burnout was witnessed on Ultrasound.money. This is an Ethereum date tracking service that burned 1,332 tokens valued at $4.1 million. Uniswap V2, a decentralized exchange, contributed by burning 810 ETH, whereas Axie Infinity is a game based on Ethereum NFT monsters that burned 626 tokens. 5th largest token burn was caused by USDT or Tether, which is a stablecoin, built on top of the ETH network.
New Upgrade will Open new Avenues for Ethereum Network
The Proof of Work consensus model of blockchains has been the center of criticism and ridicule by many critiques. This type of model generates a lot of carbon pollution and also requires a big chunk of energy. However, many miners show opposition towards this transition as it will change the old compensation method where they received a sizeable portion of gas fees.
Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of the Ethereum network, recently told the media outlet Bloomberg that the London Hard Fork event is a testament to the notion that blockchain projects are capable of change. He further added that the option of making edits and upgrades gives him more confidence in the future and longevity of the said project.