A small bit of nuance that could explain why the range could be $3.5 to $22 on a given day would be that they could be referring to different token types. The native token of ethereum (Ether) costs a fixed, smaller number of units of computation to send, whereas custom tokens (erc-20) have to do some additional bootstrapping work during transactions and cost more to send.
So there's the units of computation used x "gas price".
But yes, the "gas price" that serves to price congestion on the network is wildly variable due to congestion and low throughput. And that limited throughput is currently a real practical problem as you've pointed out in that the fees are too high.
The answer will likely be in L2s as other people are pointing out. I think one interesting side effect of this ecosystem is it is actually driving new research and application for cryptography (including substantial funding): for example practical uses of zero knowledge proofs.
Exactly this...it's not apples to apples comparison. Transferring an NFT is a larger transaction size so the cost is higher (hence the $22 price they are referring). The cost of the transaction is also based on how busy the blockchain is...like a way to discourage transactions if it's really busy. Like if you had a gas station that the price of gas (or actually more like a fee to use the gas pump) fluctuated based on how long the lines were.
Re:In defense of cryptocurrency
by randomran01234 on Thursday June 09, 2022 @08:03PM
(#31688471)
This same article mentions L2s which aim to bring these fees down to reasonable levels.
L2 like zkSync and Optimism are already very cheap and can likely continue to get cheaper.
> That’s why it recently cost $22 (!) to send a single token transaction on Ethereum
So Ethereum has prices ranging from 3.5$ to 22$? Great.
And vast, vast majority of my transactions would be costlier on Ethereum. I am rarely paying over 267$ in one transaction. 22$ per transactions would result in typical grocery shopping doubling in price. 3.5$ would be noticeable.
Also, in bank transfers that I use I am simply not paying anything at all (within European Union).
> well under Visa/MC fees most of the time
That is simply untrue, and depends on how much you transfer.