Processing transactions in the digital token Ether on the underlying blockchain could soon be expensive for some users. This is warning issued last week by Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum.

According to tracker Etherscan.io, utilization of the Ether network has significantly increased to around 90%. Buterin indicated that as utilization grows, so do transaction costs, and that might deter corporate users from using Ethereum.

During the height of cryptocurrency, the digital game CryptoKitties was taking off and slowing down the Ethereum network immensely. Then, several initial coin offerings, most of which turned out to be scams, took up even more space on the network, slowing it even more. Now, most of the ICOs are gone, but a new coin has taken over the space previously occupied by them: Tether.

Data researcher Ethgasstation.info reveals that in the past month, Tether has paid computers that process transactions on the Ethereum network close to $260,000 in fees. This is 17.5 times more than CryptoKitties and six times more than IDEX, the largest distributed exchange in the World. The use of Tether is on the rise in recent weeks following more coins being issued.

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According to CoinMarketCap, the coin’s market capitalization recently exceeded $4 billion, growing from $2.7 billion in 2018. Last month, John Griffin, a finance professor at the University of Texas, estimated that around 40% of Tether runs on the Ethereum network.

Recently, Coin Metrics indicated in what is seen as the growing popularity of the coin that it was used in 40% of all transactions on Binance and 80% of transactions on Huobi. With Tether taking up more space in the Ethereum network, then it means less space will be available for other developers.

Most crypto enthusiasts touted Etherreum to be better than Bitcoin because of its extra features. For instance, users could automate tasks as well as set autonomous corporations running themselves through software. But with this new development, some developers are avoiding Ethereum until it tweaks the network to increase capacity.

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