Ethereum’s (ETH) scalability issues just resurfaced as the main talk of the crypto town since the largest Proof Of Stake (PoS) network’s congestion has temporarily pushed the transaction fees to obnoxious levels. With Friday’s market beatdown, analysts believe holding above $3.7K is crucial to avoid further dip to $2.8K.
Kevin O’Leary, a Canadian entrepreneur that’s also a popular crypto currency & stock market commenter, has drawn the public’s attention to Ethereum’s (ETH) congestion on Thursday, when small transactions processing had skyrocketed to ballpark $1,000, for which Mr. O’Leary didn’t hold back criticism.
What’s The Issue With Ethereum’s $1,000 Fee Glitch?
“That’s like paying a thousand-dollar toll to drive on a one-lane highway”, – said the Canadian businessman, adding that with real-world blockchain adoption taking place, this isn’t a good look on the industry’s largest Proof Of Stake (PoW) chain: “when real traffic hits the system, it cracks under pressure”, – he uttered.
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Naturally, this message on X had received quite a significant amount of backlash from Ether’s (ETH) trader community, while some rival blockchain supporters offered substitutes for the “cracking down” Ethereum (ETH). “So we are using Hedera?”, – contemplated influencer Wendy O, while main rival Solana (SOL) bigged up herself.
The completing Layer-1 chain is arguably the fastest, but is also notorious for experiencing heavy traffic congestion once in a blue moon. Other contenders like Ripple (XRP) & Hedera (HBAR) were also put into discussion. Differently from Ethereum (ETH), both HBAR Network & Ripple’s XRP Ledger is in line for SWIFT testing.
XRP Ledger & HBAR Network Enter The Picture
Right now, Ripple’s XRP Ledger sports a considerably slower market cap than Ethereum (ETH), but the multi-billion dollar daily trading volumes and a fixed transaction fee is already trusted by over 300 traditional banker institutions all over the globe.
Contrastingly to XRP, HBAR Network doesn’t gather as much in volumes, but is technically capable of a faster speed than XRP, 10,000 transactions per second (TPS) to 1,500. Surely, Ethereum (ETH) is home to many Layer-2 solutions that are way more scalable than the parent chain, but Mr. O’Leary is questioning the readiness for a full-fledged adoption.
On The Flipside
- Ethereum’s Layer-2 roll-ups can significantly boost Ethereum’s capability of handling bulk on-chain transactions.
- Most Ether holders are relying on the upcoming Fusaka upgrade to push the network’s efficiency to new levels.
Why This Matters
With huge financial conglomerates like SWIFT handling over $155 trillion in annualized volume, the blockchain’s readiness for global adoption becomes a top priority.
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Ethereum’s mainnet hit congestion over the weekend of October 12-13, 2025, with transaction fees spiking past $1,000 due to high demand, as noted by Kevin O’Leary. This exposed the network’s struggle with scale amid real-world adoption.
O’Leary compared Ethereum to a single-lane highway with a toll booth, where too many transactions (cars) overload the system, causing delays and skyrocketing costs, especially during volatile periods like the recent $19 billion liquidation wave.
Ethereum relies on Layer 2 solutions like rollups, which currently handle nearly 300 TPS, and upcoming upgrades like Fusaka aim to scale further. However, O’Leary’s critique questions if these are enough for mainstream use.
Solana boasts higher TPS but has faced outages, while Ethereum’s conservative, multi-client design ensures stability. O’Leary’s debate highlights the trade-offs between speed and reliability in blockchain scaling.
Keep an eye on Fusaka’s rollout, Layer 2 adoption rates, and how Ethereum handles future volatility. Also, follow O’Leary’s insights on X (Twitter) for ongoing commentary on crypto infrastructure challenges.
