Following the Pectra upgrade, Ethereum experienced a notable surge in gas fees that affected all network users. Between 18:00 and 19:00 UTC+8 on May 7th, gas fees jumped from under 1 gwei to approximately 18 gwei, as seen on Etherscan, indicating increased network activity. While the exact causes remain unclear, experts suggest this spike might be attributed to the upgrade’s impact and increased transaction volume. No official statement has been released by Ethereum leadership regarding this specific surge. The sudden increase affected users’ wallets, impacting their temporary liquidity on decentralized platforms. Some activities like staking and swaps may have been postponed due to these higher costs.