The recent spike in Ethereum gas fees had Web3 talking this week, with some believing there’s still work to be done to prepare the crypto ecosystem for mainstream interest.

“Yesterday’s spike in Ethereum gas fees is a clear reminder that the network, while sophisticated, remains vulnerable during periods of high demand. The launch of the WLFI token pushed average gas prices from under 1 gWei to over 100 gWei, resulting in transfers exceeding $145 and severely impacting DeFi operations, especially bridging and borrowing.

“This episode underlines two critical points: first, demand spikes from even a single token or smart contract can quickly overwhelm Ethereum’s L1 capacity, and second, mainstream interest does not just require liquidity and tooling, it also demands scalability. Until Layer 2s are truly seamless and supported by infrastructure like gas-use simulators, auto batching, and transaction fee hedging, these types of spikes will remain a barrier to usability.”

– Sid Sridhar, founder and CEO of BIMA Labs

“Honestly, the recent gas spike on Ethereum just reminded me of something I keep saying to some of my colleagues, that crypto isn’t ‘ready yet for the kind of mainstream flood everyone keeps hyping. If you can’t send twenty bucks without paying another ten in fees, regular people are going to check out real quickly.

“Unfortunately, Ethereum still chokes when the traffic ramps up. That’s why we’ve been pushing so hard at Pi Squared on verifiable cross-chain transfers with high throughput – 100K TPS – sub-second finality. Because until you fix speed and cost, the promise of the industry falls flat. Additionally, the fees on Pi Squared will be in the order of 100 transactions per cent, that is, $0.0001, and it will be horizontally scalable.”

– Grigore Roșu, founder of Pi Squared

“I would say the recent spike in Ethereum gas fees serves as another reminder that scalability and cost-efficiency remain unresolved hurdles if we’re serious about broader adoption. Institutions, in particular, won’t tolerate unpredictable transaction costs or settlement bottlenecks. They need infrastructure that feels reliable, compliant, and frankly, boring in the best way, like the systems they already trust.

“That’s why at IOST we’re focused on building RWA-native blockchain infrastructure designed with institutional requirements at the core: compliance frameworks built in, throughput that doesn’t break under pressure, and a path to seamless adoption. If this space is going to move from experimentation to integration, it won’t be speculation driving it, it’ll be trust, standards, and scalability working together.”

– Blake Jeong, co-CEO of IOST

“Ethereum gas fees get a bad rap, but let’s keep perspective. Even at today’s ‘sub-optimal’ levels, they pale compared to the costs of banks, clearing houses, or money transmitters. Ethereum is a worldwide, massively secure, trustless transmission layer, celebrating 10 years where you can move a billion dollars for ~$0.33. Much ado about nothing.”

– Dylan Dewdney, co-founder and CEO of Kuvi.ai

“Yesterday’s launch of the $WLFI token sent Ethereum gas fees into the stratosphere, bringing a sense of deja vu to long-term crypto investors. For builders in the space, however, it was a reminder that our job is still far from done. If a spike in trading can suddenly push fees on a $200 transfer to $50, there is still work required to prepare the crypto ecosystem for the mainstream adoption that is undoubtedly coming.

“To support retail users coming into Web3, blockchains must be ultra-fast and ultra-cheap to use. Otherwise, these users will go back to the Web2 alternatives. Over the last few years, a great deal of development has happened behind the scenes. Now it’s time to showcase these innovations to make sure we’re ready when the kind of trading frenzy we saw yesterday with $WLFI becomes an everyday occurrence.”

– Mangirdas Ptašinskas, head of marketing and community at Galxe

“The trading frenzy around $WLFI this week might look exciting on the surface, but it also shows how much crypto is still in the teething phase, so to speak. When every new listing feels like a casino rush, it’s hard to argue the market is mature enough for real institutional adoption.

“What’s missing are structure and permissionless tools that let traders do more than just buy and flip. Margin trading, lending, borrowing, those are the mechanics that make traditional markets function and give assets actual utility. Without them, tokens live and die on hype cycles. Building infrastructure that supports these capabilities for any token is essential if we want this industry to sustain itself long-term.”

– Sky, founder of LIKWID

“I would argue the $WLFI surge demonstrates that crypto often still leans too heavily on speculation without the depth of markets you’d expect around serious assets. In traditional finance, equities don’t just trade spot, they thrive because there’s a robust layer of lending, margin, and derivatives infrastructure that supports real price discovery and risk management.

“Tokenized equities won’t reach their potential if we repeat the same cycle of hype-driven trading without that foundation. Building lending and derivatives infrastructure around these assets is what transforms them from novelty instruments into investable markets that institutions, and frankly anyone, can actually trust.”

Hedy Wang, CEO and co-founder of Block Street

“Anyone watching the $WLFI spectacle unfolding yesterday would have been reminded of the 2021 DeFi summer, when Ethereum gas fees spiked to triple-digit dollar values at times. This shows that crypto is still, to a large extent, driven by hype and FOMO – not real value.”

“On its own, the spike of activity isn’t bad for crypto or the Ethereum ecosystem. The spike in fees caused so much ETH to be burned that the asset briefly turned deflationary, and that’s good for Ethereum’s market dynamics if nothing else.”

“The concern, however, is that such blatantly speculative trading continues to damage trust in crypto, and that’s the opposite of what is required to build a truly resilient, long-term financial system.”

“Instead of celebrity tokens, what truly matters for the future of digital assets is integration with institutional finance, the adoption of stablecoins, and the transition of stable assets like real estate and gold on-chain. This is what will help crypto break out of its yo-yoing cycles.”

– Kevin Rusher, founder of RAAC