Following the Dencun upgrade, daily transactions on the Coinbase Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, surged to a record 2 million on March 16, marking a significant milestone for the platform and highlighting its growing relevance in South Africa’s burgeoning cryptocurrency scene.
Before this upgrade, Base processed about 440,000 transactions per day. This number soared to 1.1 million the day after the upgrade and continued its upward trajectory, reaching 2,064,920 by March 16.
The number of daily new users on Base also saw an unprecedented spike, reaching 666,866 on March 16, representing a massive 3,200% increase from the days leading up to the Dencun upgrade.
This 350% surge in transactions is attributed to a significant reduction in fees on Base following the upgrade. Average transaction fees on Base have decreased by more than 60% since the Dencun implementation, as reported by Blockscout.
Launched in August by Coinbase, Base has quickly risen to become the sixth-largest network in the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem, boasting a total value locked of $1.46 billion (approximately R27.42 billion) and capturing a 4.1% market share of layer 2s, according to L2beat.
The Ethereum Dencun upgrade introduced Ethereum Improvement Proposal 4844, which significantly reduced layer-2 transaction fees by implementing data blobs or proto-danksharding. This innovation has enhanced layer-2 data availability and slashed gas costs by up to 90% for some networks.
Following the upgrade, average transaction fees on prominent layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and zkSync Era dropped by 60% to 90%, according to Dune Analytics.
Despite Base’s remarkable growth, Arbitrum and Optimism continue to lead the layer-2 ecosystem with a combined total value locked of $23 billion (approximately R431.71 billion), representing market shares of 42% and 23%, respectively.
Post-Dencun, gas fees for token swaps on Uniswap’s Optimism deployment plummeted to as low as $0.01 (approximately R0.19), highlighting the cost-efficiency improvements brought by the upgrade, as noted by protocol founder Hayden Adams.
Meanwhile, Ethereum layer-1 gas fees have been notably high recently, with the asset exceeding $4,000 (approximately R75,080) but have since declined. Currently, an Ether (ETH $3,628 or approximately R68,104.36) transfer costs around $2.1 (approximately R39.42), a USD Coin (USDC $1.00 or approximately R18.77) transfer is about $5 (approximately R93.85), and a swap on Uniswap stands at around $16 (approximately R300.32), according to Gasfees.io.
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