The Ethereum community, headed by the Ethereum Foundation, is actively looking for ways to improve the technology, including the gas fees aspect. The way through which this is expected to happen is by upgrading Ethereum to Ethereum 2.0.
ETH 2.0 means that among other changes, Ethereum will switch from a Proof Of Work model to Proof Of Stake. This means that the responsibility of validating a transaction will go from miners with a lot of computing power to people who have staked at least 32 ETH.
The network will randomly select people who have this amount staked to validate transactions. This will make Ethereum more energy-efficient, as it is predicted that it will use 99% less energy than it does today, but also cause a drop in gas fees, due to a higher number of participants in the validation process.
Ethereum 2.0 is a process that is split into multiple phases and is being implemented gradually, with previous accomplishments such as the “London Upgrade” already in place.
Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum and head of the Ethereum Foundation, has stated that 2022 is the year when Ethereum switches to a Proof Of Stake model.
Although Ethereum gas prices can be frustrating, and cause a high barrier of entry for many getting started in the NFT space, the future looks hopeful.