The Coinbase Ethereum layer-2 network Base experienced a surge in daily transactions, reaching a record high of 2 million on March 16, shortly after the Dencun upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, Base was processing approximately 440,000 transactions per day. However, the number skyrocketed to 1.1 million the day after the upgrade and continued to rise, peaking at 2,064,920 on March 16.
In addition to the increase in transactions, Base also saw a significant spike in daily new users, reaching 666,866 on March 16. This represents a staggering 3,200% increase compared to the average number of new users in the days leading up to the Dencun upgrade.
The surge in transactions has been attributed to a substantial reduction in fees on Base following the upgrade. According to Blockscout, average transaction fees on Base have decreased by over 60% since the upgrade.
Base, launched by Coinbase in August, currently ranks as the sixth-largest network in the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem, with a total value locked of $1.46 billion. It commands a market share of 4.1% among layer 2s, according to industry tracker L2beat.
The Dencun upgrade for Ethereum introduced Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4844, which aimed to reduce layer-2 transaction fees by introducing data blobs or proto-danksharding. This upgrade improved L2 data availability, leading to a reduction in gas costs of up to 90% for some networks.
Following the upgrade, average transaction fees on leading layer-2 networks, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync Era, decreased by 60% to 90%, as reported by Dune Analytics.
Despite the surge in Base’s transactions, Arbitrum and Optimism still dominate the layer-2 ecosystem, with a combined total value locked of $23 billion, giving them a market share of 42% and 23%, respectively.
In terms of gas fees, token swaps on Uniswap’s Optimism deployment saw fees as low as $0.01 following the Dencun upgrade, according to Hayden Adams, the protocol’s founder. However, gas fees for Ethereum layer-1 transactions have been high recently, with an Ether transfer costing around $2.1, a USD Coin transfer around $5, and a Uniswap swap around $16, as stated by Gasfees.io.
Overall, the Dencun upgrade has led to significant improvements in transaction fees and user activity on the Base network, contributing to its growth within the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem.