Base Surges as Ethereum L2 Transactions Hit 12.5M ATH

Ethereum Layer-2 Networks Set New Transaction Record

Ethereum layer-2 (L2) networks recently achieved an all-time high, recording an unprecedented 12.52 million transactions. This milestone, documented by data from Growthepie on August 13, surpasses the previous record of 11.5 million transactions set on April 4. After a dip in activity between late April and early June, the transaction count rebounded in mid-June, maintaining high volumes despite ongoing market uncertainties.

Leading Ethereum L2 Networks in Transaction Volume

Among the Ethereum L2 networks, Coinbase’s Base emerged as the leader, contributing a substantial 3.98 million transactions on the day of the ATH. This is particularly notable considering Base is relatively new, having launched just over a year ago.

Other key performers included:

• Arbitrum One: 1.79 million transactions on August 13.
• OP Mainnet: 487,820 transactions.
• Linea: 409,520 transactions.

Notably, Base and Arbitrum One were the only networks to surpass the 1 million transaction mark on August 13.

Stablecoin Market Cap Growth and Declining User Fees

The surge in transaction volumes has been accompanied by significant growth in the stablecoin market cap on Ethereum L2 networks, which has now reached $9.69 billion. However, despite this growth, user fees have seen a dramatic decline. On August 13, users paid only $171,514 in fees, a sharp drop from the $4.2 million peak recorded on March 5.

This 96% decline in fees indicates that while activity on L2 networks is increasing, the cost to users is decreasing, particularly during periods of market volatility. In contrast, cumulative active addresses on these L2 networks have declined by 16.23% over the past week, totaling 5.29 million unique wallets.

Performance Metrics of Leading Ethereum L2 Networks

The six leading Ethereum L2 networks — Base, Arbitrum One, Linea, OP Mainnet, Scroll, and zkSync Era — have shown varying performance metrics concerning active wallet addresses and cross-chain activity.

• Base: The current front-runner with 3.25 million weekly active addresses, though only 9.1% of its activity involved cross-chain transactions.
• Arbitrum One: Maintained its strong position with 1.11 million weekly active addresses, despite being nearly three years old.
• Linea: A one-year-old ZK Rollup, recorded 493,570 weekly active addresses, with 43.6% of its activity involving multi-chain transactions.
• OP Mainnet: An Optimistic Rollup, witnessed 315,320 weekly active addresses.
• Scroll: Attracted 272,290 weekly active addresses, with 61.4% of its transactions involving multi-chain activities, the highest among the top six L2s.
• zkSync Era: Another ZK Rollup, recorded 261,260 weekly active addresses.