In early December, the sudden popularity of a new species of NFT called Buterin Cards led Ethereum gas fees—the cost to carry out a transaction on the blockchain—to briefly soar to around $10. Even though the fees soon fell back to around $1, the episode was an unpleasant reminder of earlier crypto booms when Ethereum became practically unusable just as it was soaring in popularity. This famously occurred with the arrival of an early NFT package known as Crypto Kitties in 2017, and with the massive speculative frenzy of the 2021 crypto bubble.
During those earlier episodes, Ethereum boosters begged for understanding since the blockchain, which was the first to popularize smart contracts, was still a new technology. The crypto world was largely understanding since growing pains for a project of this scale are inevitable, and due to the specific challenge of the "blockchain trilemma"—an axiom that says it is easy to build for two of the three qualities of speed, security, and decentralization but not all three. As we appear to be entering a new crypto bull market, though, it's not clear if people will be as patient.
