Dencun Day One: Ethereum Layer 2 Networks See Drastic Drop in Transaction Fees – Unchained

Some Ethereum layer 2 networks have seen their median transaction fees decline by as much as 99% after the Dencun upgrade went live. These are some of the biggest winners.

The much anticipated Dencun upgrade has led to a significant reduction in transaction fees on Ethereum layer 2 networks, with the effects of the immediate scalability already taking shape across the ecosystem. 

The Dencun upgrade went live early on Wednesday after it activated on the Ethereum mainnet at epoch height 269568. The upgrade introduced the highly anticipated proto-danksharding functionality via EIP-4844, which integrates off-chain “data-blobs” that decreases the costs associated with storing transaction data.

Ethereum Layer 2 networks, which are designed to provide a faster, cheaper route to executing transactions on the underlying blockchain, were the biggest beneficiaries of the upgrade. Data from a Dune dashboard created by “@Marcov” shows that popular layer 2 networks such as Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Zora and zkSsync have seen massive declines in their average transaction fees. 

At the time of writing, average transaction fees had dropped to $0.05 on Optimism, $0.064 on Base, $0.5 on Arbitrum and $0.16 on zkSync Era. So far, Optimism and chains based on Optimism’s tech stack such as Base, have seen the biggest reductions in fees.

We love to see it.

OP Chains have the most affordable decentralized L2 transaction fees after 4844, bringing us that much closer to the reality of seamless end-user experiences.

✨In Blobs We Trust✨ pic.twitter.com/WOovhcZelk

— Optimism (@Optimism) March 14, 2024

after 2 years of hard work, blobs are now live on @base

before: $0.31
after: $0.00 (but actually $0.0005)

wallets need to update to handle these cost reductions! pic.twitter.com/solIX9D4HM

— Jesse Pollak (jesse.xyz) 🛡️ (@jessepollak) March 14, 2024

Starknet, another Ethereum Layer 2 solution, posted a screenshot of the change in its transaction fees on X showing that a single gas transaction had declined 99% since the Dencun upgrade synchronized.

“Dencun is both the most complex fork we’ve shipped since the Merge, and tied for ‘most total EIPs in a fork’ with Byzantium. There were more teams than ever involved in the process, and it somehow all worked out smoothly,” said the Ethereum Foundation’s Tim Beiko on X.

for those who need help, Dencun went live here: https://t.co/wMXO0YDFY9 pic.twitter.com/3QNjKwql2F

— DavidHoffman.eth/acc🦇🔊 (@TrustlessState) March 13, 2024