To say the crypto markets are in a meltdown today would be a complete understatement. Bitcoin has crashed below $6000 as the rest of the cryptocurrencies nosedive deeper.
Ethereum (ETH), in particular, has slumped by more than 28% within the space of hours to trade at a mere $136 at press time. This unexpected pullback has sent the asset’s gas prices skyrocketing.
Ethereum Gas Prices Rocket As Network Gets Congested
As investors grapple with the spreading coronavirus that has now been confirmed as a global pandemic, bitcoin has cratered to the $6K zone, essentially entering a full-fledged bear market.
The world’s second-largest blockchain, ethereum, has crashed in tandem to multi-year lows. As a result of this crash, gas prices, which are basically a measure of computational power, have shot up to new heights.
ETHGasStation, a primary source for ethereum gas metrics, said on Twitter:
“Be advised that gas prices are extremely high right now.”
The source also noted that the gas prices in gwei now stand at 101, meaning users will be required to pay approximately $0.301 for a transaction to be confirmed.
Analytics firm Glassnode observed this on Twitter, citing that the median gas price for ethereum recently surged to 29 gwei according to their analysis, which is the highest level seen in more than a year.
The ongoing bloodbath has caught investors’ pants down. Most of them have panicked and attempted to dump their holdings thus causing the congestion. As such, sellers will now have to pay high fees for transactions or wait for painfully long durations of time before the transactions are accepted.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao noted that it now takes at least 44 minutes for a single ether transaction to clear.
#ETH network congestion. Average time for confirmations 2680 seconds (44 minutes) https://t.co/a2U8vF3Q9P pic.twitter.com/nPENzWA4yH
— CZ Binance(@cz_binance) March 12, 2020
