According to Steven Nerayoff, one of the founding advisors of the Ethereum Foundation, transaction fees on the Ethereum network were initially expected to be between $0.01 and $0.02, a far cry from current rates which can reach hundreds of dollars.
Ethereum fees, the original broken promise
A former Ethereum Foundation advisor questions current high gas fees, a far cry from initial promises.
According to Ethereum pioneer Steven Nerayoff, transaction fees on the network should have been between $0.01 and $0.02, with a cap of $0.5 for complex transactions using smart contracts.
These numbers were even included in the legal documentation for the Ethereum ICO. However, today fees can reach hundreds of dollars depending on the type of transaction. How can we explain such a slippage compared to initial forecasts?
Nerayoff believes that this slippage primarily benefits “a handful of big players” among the first investors and miners, to the detriment of users. These players would pocket juicier ETH rewards thanks to high fees, while controlling a significant portion of the circulating supply.
Meanwhile, other blockchains like Solana or Cardano manage to keep fees very low.
The promise of second-tier solutions
To try to resolve performance problems, Ethereum has given priority in recent years to the development of so-called “Layer 2” solutions such as Optimism, Arbitrum or zkSync. The goal is to relieve the main chain by processing a portion of transactions off-chain.
However, for the moment, the bet has not yet been won. Indeed, despite the launch of several layer 2s, fees remain prohibitive on Ethereum. New challengers like Solana are taking advantage of this to gain market share, with significantly lower fees.
The issue is therefore crucial for Ethereum if it wants to maintain its leading position. Founder Vitalik Buterin has also recognized this: the project must absolutely keep its promises of scalability, otherwise it will become obsolete.
In short, the current high fees are completely out of step with the original philosophy of Ethereum, which was intended to be accessible with minimal fees. As a result, the difficult transition to the Layer 2 model now places Ethereum in a race against time against the emergence of low-fee rival networks like Solana or Cardano.
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