On April 30, Yuga Labs, the creator of one of the most popular non-fungible token (NFT) collections – the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) – launched land sales for its much-anticipated metaverse project, the Otherside.
Yuga Labs Causes Major Spike in Ethereum Gas Fees
Within 24 hours, Yuga Labs generated more than $561 million from just the Otherside’s “Otherdeed” NFT sales. The biggest NFT sales came with a caveat – because gas fees were paid in ETH, the frenzy caused Ethereum network fees to spike to new highs.
At the peak of the sale, we reported that gas fees spiked to $3,800 and up to $6,500 (some users reported seeing $14,000). Otherdeed was the biggest gas contributor on Ethereum, growing by more than 42,000%.
Yuga Labs Apologizes for Disrupting the Ethereum Network After Backlash
The event left community members unhappy, who have accused Yuga Labs of fraud, manipulation and preferential treatment during the Otherside Land sale.
Acknowledging the high gas fees and failed transactions users faced because of the astronomical gas fees, Yuga Labs has issued an apology. Yuga Labs shared on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR);
We're sorry for turning off the lights on Ethereum for a while. It seems abundantly clear that ApeCoin will need to migrate to its own chain in order to properly scale. We'd like to encourage the DAO to start thinking in this direction.— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) May 1, 2022
On The Flipside
- The massive gas fees came with an upside, as more than $200 million worth of ETH were permanently destroyed during the sale – pushing ETH issuance into the deflationary territory by 18%.
Why You Should Care
To help the project scale, Yuga Labs have now proposed that ApeCoin migrates to its own chain to avoid future disruptions of the Ethereum network.
