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The Ethereum dilemma for NFT creators

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As the NFT world looks forward to network upgrades, side chains are about to rise.

原文标题：《 NFT Creators Are Tiring of Ethereum Network Woes 》

Stehpen Stirling, TheStreet Crypto

0x55, BlockBeats

Not long ago, it seemed that most people in the NFT industry were looking forward to optimizing the Ethereum network to get past one of the big hurdles, namely high gas charges. That is no longer the case.

Slowly, various exchanges have moved to side chains as a stopgap, and some platforms have retreated from Ethereum entirely. These moves allow transactions on these platforms to bypass the main Ethereum network, avoiding a gas fee that can be higher than the transaction itself.

OpenSea 作为最大的 NFT 交易平台之一，估值已达 15 亿美元。而根据其近期的公告，创作者现可在 Polygon 网络上铸造、购买、出售 NFT。 OpenSea 的 CEO Devin Finzer 表示，这对于 OpenSea 生态繁荣是必要的一步。

"The problem is that if you buy something that costs $2, you're probably paying more in gas than that," Finzer said. "So people who aren't willing to pay a few hundred dollars upfront aren't going to be able to participate, and we're not going to have a universal community event, are we?"

Other platforms have chosen to bypass Ethereum altogether.

As an example, Virtually Human Studios recently completed a $20 million funding round led by TCG and A16Z for the development and maintenance of their NFT racing game Zed Run. Zed Run ponies rely on the Matic network to keep them going.

Pastel, which just raised $5 million, is an NFT trading platform built on its own blockchain. Anthony Georgiades, COO and co-founder of Pastel, argues that Ethereum was not built for NFT, so why crush it?

「以太坊是整体上是一个很好的计算机，」 Georgiades 说，「但是以太坊网络对『特定目的应用』的支持并没有很好，例如 NFT。」

Georgiades believes that building Pastel on its own network will allow them to provide better security, such as tracking fake NFT or fraudulent items.

"There are a lot of developers who are trying to solve the problem of transaction fees with side chains, or storage shortages with parallel chains, etc. But ultimately, there are broader issues that need to be addressed."

Starting from scratch has proved to be a better solution for certain trading platforms. Dapper Lab's NBA TopShot is based on the local network Flow. In a way, it started the NFT boom in the spring, and it racked up more than $500 million in sales in a few months.

Mavis Sky's Axie Infinity is likely to hit $700 million in sales in the next few weeks, replacing the NBA's TopShot. The rally started when Axie Infinity moved from Ethereum to Ronin.

However, according to experts, the upgrade to PoS will improve the situation somewhat, but that day may not come soon enough.