Ethereum Fees Get High with Stoner Cats, Then Swiftly Drop

Ethereum (ETH) fees are down again following a major surge fuelled by – cats. Stoner Cats to be more precise, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) launched ahead of the same-named series by actress Mila Kunis.

Prior to the release of the new adult animated series, there was an NFT sale of 10,420 stoner cats, which sold out in 35 minutes (or “35 meow-nutes, as the team said) – and which sent the gas prices soaring.

NFT collectors were able to mint these cats at a price of ETH 0.35 (currently USD 805) each.

This series, per the website, involved “the brilliant minds behind CryptoKitties,” the popular cat-themed project that also clogged the network back in 2017.

Referring to this event, decentralized finance analytics firm DeFiprime noted that “as usual cats clogged Ethereum,” showing that at one point the estimated cost of transaction was 200 Gwei for a slow one up to 709 Gwei for a fast one. In USD, the onchain data shows a range between USD 9.5 and USD 33.67.

Per Etherscan, current estimated costs range between USD 1.3 for a high one, and USD 0.92 for a low one.

Dune Analytics‘ charts show a spike in the median gas fee on July 27 around the time of the sale, dropping soon afterwards. Similarly, per ethereumprice.org, the gas first hit 445 gwei, followed by 734 gwei just hours later, then abruptly dropping to the current 21 gwei.

Dune Analytics also shows a loss of ETH 344.4 (USD 792,120) due to Stoner Cats failed transactions.

As reported, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin is set to be a part of an NFT project by Kunis. The upcoming animated series will feature Stoner Cats – sentient cats of one Ms. Stoner, and Buterin will be voicing an old, deceased cat, Lord Catsington. Popular stars involved include Jane Fonda, Seth McFarlane, Ashton Kutcher, and Chris Rock.

People can watch Stoner Cats if they own a Stoner Cats TOKEn. Per Etherscan, Stoner Cats are among the top fee payers in the past 24 hours (ETH 1,512, or USD 3.4m), using 2.36% of gas in that time frame.

3,000 more NFTs will be released during the series’ first season. Meanwhile, minted stoner cats can already be bought on marketplaces. This Lord Catsington one on OpenSea, for example, costs ETH 77 (USD 177,100).

At 8:00 UTC, ETH was trading at USD 2,300. It’s up 4.5% in a day and 28% in a week.
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Learn more:
– Ethereum Going to London in August, but Some Changes Will Need To Wait
– Ethereum Starts Testing London Upgrade – but ‘Adjust Your Expectations’
– Ethereum’s EIP-1559 ‘Doesn’t Deliver’ As It’s ‘Not Meant to Reduce Fees’