L2 activity reaches more than 4.5 times the transaction count on Ethereum

Exercise on rollups and different L2 networks reached new all-time highs. Site visitors on L2 is greater than 4.5 instances larger than that of Ethereum transactions, indicating a everlasting shift to scalable chains.

L2 chains, led by Base, Arbitrum and Optimism, invite over 4.5 instances as a lot site visitors as Ethereum (ETH). On the primary L1 chain, transactions stabilized at round 1.16 million, shifting to high-value stablecoin transfers, ETH actions and fewer swaps or NFT exercise.

The expansion in L2 exercise was primarily pushed by Base’s affect, however different prime chains supplied a sturdy base stage of transactions. | Supply: GrowThePie

Extra advanced transactions have shifted to L2, the place every chain has a selected profile. DeFi exercise and stablecoin liquidity has piled up on Arbitrum and a handful of prime chains, drawing customers in for simpler DEX swaps.

Because of this, L2 exercise has been setting new information for months. On a weekly foundation, L2 exercise handed the ten million person milestone, with just one.96 million for Ethereum on a weekly foundation.

Customers are lively within the Ethereum Ecosystem – Final week’s statistics:

Greater than 10,000,000 addresses have interacted with 1 or extra layers 2.

Greater than 1,960,000 addresses interacted with Ethereum Layer 1. pic.twitter.com/eMXlz3Yyk2

— growthepie.xyz 🥧📏 (@growthepie_eth) January 6, 2025

Whereas Base stays the chief in quick transactions, a few of its site visitors stays tied to natural DEX buying and selling and DeFi lending on L2’s different prime chains. The bottom additionally will get a lift from CbBTC site visitors because it stacks up as nicely $3.49 billion locked in worth.

Stablecoins are additionally one of many driving forces behind L2 adoption. Within the early days of 2025, L2 owned greater than $11 billion in bridged or native stablecoins, with Arbitrum being the chief with $6.35 billion. Base was in second place, with $3.5 billion in stablecoins.

The upward pattern displays Arbitrum’s robust baseline, however many of the growth nonetheless comes from Base. The chain is among the many prime suppliers of DeFi, by way of the excessive liquidity model of Uniswap and the Aerodrome DEX. Arbitrum follows carefully based mostly on DeFi exercise and reaches out $33.6 million on a day by day time-frame.

Most L2 chains slowed down considerably after the top of their airdrop mining operations. Returning to natural site visitors has been a wrestle for a number of chains. The bottom continues to be not formally making ready for an airdrop, though there are nonetheless expectations for a local token sooner or later.

L2 chains develop based mostly on specialised actions

Whereas Linea is carrying much less site visitors, it continues to play an vital position in L2 exercise in NFT swaps and decentralized social media. Optimism serves as a common utility chain, whereas ZKSync Period has the most important share of easy token transfers.

Arbitrum is the most important hub for cross-chain operations, with greater than $15 million generated day by day. Generally, L2 doesn’t talk between chains, however depends on bridging and flows to and from Ethereum.

As well as, dozens of smaller networks give attention to specialised duties, equivalent to gaming or a selected DEX. Nevertheless, newer networks might lack liquidity, and older networks could also be unwilling to grow to be interoperable.

Rising L2 site visitors is driving payment competitors and blockages within the area

The rising site visitors additionally makes L2 dearer, with common spikes within the lease paid to Ethereum. Whereas the rental payment is small in comparison with Ethereum’s block manufacturing incentives, there’s a shift from earlier months of near-zero funds. By comparability, Base was paying not more than $3,000 for its exercise at one level, whereas a current spike resulted in $93,000 in day by day lease paid to Ethereum.

The elevated on-chain exercise means on-chain operators can select how they publish on Ethereum. Information exhibits Arbitrum switches between blobs and name knowledge, relying on which is cheaper in the intervening time. Nevertheless, this L2 exercise really takes up block area on Ethereum, making common transactions dearer.

Ethereum transactions are nonetheless dearer at $1.10, with common value spikes for specialised duties. Arbitrum retains $0.09 per transaction, though even L2 does not provide nearly free transfers. Nevertheless, arbitrage swaps could be as little as $0.27, whereas Ethereum DEX offers $21.38 with out particular precedence or additional funds for block builders.

L2 chains keep actual financial exercise and the highest chains present sturdy demand. Nevertheless, the L2 story remained submissive. A complete of 127 high-profile chains had been launched, every competing for area of interest or mass enterprise.