The Polygon network, a prominent Ethereum scaling solution, recently witnessed a significant spike in gas fees attributed to a surge in token minting activities. The fees, which quantify the computational effort required for transactions on the network, soared over 1,000% to a peak of $0.10 or 5,000 gwei. This spike was notably linked to the minting of a new token, POLS, built on the PRC-20 protocol, a variant inspired by Bitcoin’s Ordinals and BRC-20 token standards.
During this period of elevated fees, several transactions on the Polygon network contained JSON text as input data, resembling text-based inscriptions associated with BRC-20 tokens on Bitcoin. This specific nature of transactions underscores the growing complexity and diversity of activities on blockchain networks.
Before the sharp increase, the network’s transaction cost was recorded at 477 gwei. However, the fees have since normalized, dropping to approximately 270 gwei, as per the latest data. This fluctuation in gas prices reflects the dynamic nature of blockchain networks in response to user activity and demand.
The POLS token, which was a primary driver of this increased network activity, saw a significant portion of its supply being minted in a short period. Reports indicate that around 9% of its 2.1 trillion total supply had been minted, with the token having over 18,100 different owners.
Polygon’s founder, Sandeep Nailwal, expressed surprise at the sudden spike in transaction activity on the network. He speculated that the launch of a new Polygon-based non fungible token (NFT) collection, Baby Shark, contributed to this surge. Data from Dune Analytics corroborated this, showing that the minting rush for POLS coincided with significant usage of MATIC tokens for gas.
What is going on on @0xPolygon POS chain? 6m transactions in last 24 hrs. 170 TPS on average. 1mn+ MATIC burnt by the protocol. The chain worked smoothly, gas fees went crazy though but no reorgs or 0 blocks etc.
— Sandeep Nailwal | sandeep. polygon 💜 (@sandeepnailwal) November 16, 2023
I hear there is some game Baby Shark Launching, could that be the…
This phenomenon is not unique to Polygon. Earlier this year, the Bitcoin network experienced a similar situation. The launch of the Ordinals protocol, enabling NFT minting directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, led to a spike in transaction fees, reaching levels not seen since April 2021. This event drew mixed reactions from the Bitcoin community, with some criticizing the perceived inefficiency and others embracing the innovation.
