Consequently, the figures presented demonstrate the rise of layer-2 technologies on the Ethereum blockchain.
There appears to be an abundance of projects being built on Ethereum [ETH]. A lot of layer-2 projects have been established on the network. It seems like most of the industry’s attention is being drawn toward these projects rather than ETH.
On the weekend, Optimism’s daily transaction count reportedly saw a sevenfold rise compared to September 2022, reaching a historic peak of almost 700,000. Arbitrum also showed a similar trend. Both these projects together surpassed Ethereum in terms of transaction volume. According to the graph, Ethereum handled over 1.06 million transactions on the 10th of January, while Arbitrum and Optimism together had a collective transaction volume of over 1.12 million. It is evident that Optimism and Arbitrum have been steadily increasing since September 2022, and are responsible for 80 percent of the overall layer-2 ecosystem. This data clearly points to the growth of layer-2 networks over Ethereum.
Ethereum’s fees have been consistent for two consecutive months, with no significant changes.
Ethereum’s abnormally high gas fees had been a huge disadvantage for the platform. These hefty charges made it difficult for users and developers to execute essential operations. However, Santiment states that the standard transaction cost for ETH has been beneath $2 for the past two months. Despite this, the activity of layer-2 networks was noticed flourishing.
Santiment also believes that the increased fees could have been preventing the asset from increasing. To explain this, the on-chain analytics firm stated, “Ethereum may still have a ways to go to get back to its $4,858 all-time peak on Nov 10, 2021.
Ethereum was impacted, in part, due to the exorbitant $60+ average fees then. But now with less than $2 per transaction, the convenience of utility could allow a continuous slow rebound.” At present, Ethereum is 72.74 percent lower than its all-time high. At the time of writing, ETH was trading for $1,334.71 with a mild price difference of 0.52 percent.