Buterin Cards Surge Spurs Ethereum Fee Frenzy

A new non-fungible token (NFT) project paying tribute to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin saw a surge in activity yesterday, briefly accounting for over 13% of total gas fees on the network. 

The aptly named “Buterin Cards” seeks to mint 2,015 NFTs using a unique process called JPEG mining to store image data on-chain. This contrasts with most NFT projects that only store metadata on-chain.

According to Etherscan data, transactions linked to Buterin Cards NFTs led to heightened demand for processing transactions on Ethereum around 3PM ET Dec 1st. For a brief period, these fees even surpassed those from decentralized exchange Uniswap and stablecoin Tether. 

Buterin Cards rewards miners for contributing computing power with NFT cards showcasing Vitalik Buterin. The images progressively unveil in quality as mining progresses, thanks to the use of progressive JPEG technology. The project’s smart contract verifies data integrity by computing image hashes on-chain. 

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