Ethereum Dencun Upgrade a Success as 32 Million Layer 2 Transactions Seen

Key Takeaways

• Ethereum implemented the Dencun upgrade on March 18.
• Since then, transaction activity on Arbitrum, Base and Optimism has increased.
• Post-Dencun, Layer 2 blockchains benefit from lower gas fees.

Probably the most important consequence of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March is its impact on Layer 2 (L2) fees, which have fallen significantly post-upgrade.

Boosted by lower gas fees, since Dencun was successfully implemented on March 13, the L2 ecosystem has been averaging over 124  transactions per second. Among the biggest winners, activity on Arbitrum, Base and Optimism has picked up significantly, 

Arbitrum and Optimism Double Daily Transaction Counts

Having been stuck at around a million transactions a day in the weeks leading up to Dencun, Arbiscan data  shows that Arbitrum is now closer to 2 million a day, a milestone that the blockchain has only achieved a handful of times since its launch.

Likewise, Optimism has benefited from higher daily transaction counts since the upgrade was implemented. 

After an initial spike that saw the network process more than a million transactions a day for the first time ever on March 27, Optimism has settled at a daily transaction count of between 600,000 and 800,000, nearly double its range in the period leading up to the Ethereum upgrade.

Base Emerges as a Leading L2

While Arbitrum and Optimism transactions have increased post-Dencun, that hasn’t been enough for them to stay ahead of Base in the L2 popularity contest. When it comes to volume, however, Arbitrum remains dominant.

Interest in the new Layer3 Degen Chain has helped drive significant trading activity to Base, helping it eclipse Arbitrum for the first time.

Having rarely broken above half a million until recently, the number of daily transactions on Base has surged to over 3 million in recent weeks.

Even prior to the upgrade, activity on Base had been rising throughout March, climbing above 2m transactions a day for the first time on March 16. Since then, activity on Base has ramped up further still, hitting an all-time record of 3.2 million transactions on April 4.

Weekly Layer 2 Transactions

Looking at the broader L2 landscape, L2Beat data  shows that L2s had their most active day ever on April 2, when they collectively processed an average of 156 transactions per second. 

If those numbers could be sustained for a week, it would equate to nearly 750 million transactions.

Slug: ethereum-dencun-upgrade-a-success

About the Author

James Morales

Although his background is in crypto and FinTech news, these days, James likes to roam across CCN’s editorial breadth, focusing mostly on digital technology. Having always been fascinated by the latest innovations, he uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.

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