According to data shared by the on-chain analytics platform IntoTheBlock, the second most popular blockchain, Ethereum, has seen a dramatic increase in weekly fees. IntoTheBlock has named one of the key drivers that have contributed to this surge.

The total amount of fees collected on Ethereum has increased by 78%.

Ethereum fees skyrocket thanks to meme coin mania

Ethereum fees begin to rise when this chain that first allowed developers to build DeFi dapps and create NFTs faces congestion as too many transactions are waiting in the meme pool to be verified. When it happens, miners begin to prioritize those pending transfers for which they are offered a higher gas fee.

Once in a while, transaction fees on Ethereum begin to skyrocket, and over the past few years this has been largely down to meme coin trading and the high level of speculation around meme cryptocurrencies.

FLOKI surpasses DOGE, SHIB, PEPE

Currently, ETH fees total roughly 28 gwei. The last time fees this high were noticed on May 12, 2022, and in May 2023, the fees also went to approximately the same level. On May 5, 2022, Ethereum gas fees surged to as high as a mind-blowing 196.6 gwei, according to Bitinfocharts.

Among the most popular meme cryptocurrencies are Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Pepe (PEPE) and Floki (FLOKI). According to the official Floki account on the X social media platform, FLOKI has outpaced DOGE, SHIB and PEPE on the world’s largest social network for investors, Stockwits, and became the most popular asset. FLOKI here has even surpassed stocks of major companies, such as Nvidia and Tesla.

PulseChain/X acquires 163,295 ETH

As reported by on-chain data tracker @spotonchain, just recently Uniswap fork PulseChain/X purchased an impressive 15,003 ETH at approximately $3,932 per coin, paying 59 million DAI stablecoins for that ETH chunk.

This was not the first lump of Ethereum acquired by this blockchain platform over the past four days. In total, it has bought a staggering 163,295 ETH worth almost $621 million. PulseChain/X is now sitting on an unrealized profit of $24.3 million in fiat.

At the time of this writing, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization value, Ethereum, is changing hands at $3,948 per coin. Since Tuesday this week, Ethereum has staged a massive 18.66% increase.