Gas Fees on Multiple Ethereum Layer-2s Drop Tenfold After Dencun Upgrade

After the Dencun upgrade and the implementation of EIP-4844, transaction gas fees on several Ethereum layer-2 networks have significantly decreased.

Gas Fees on Multiple Ethereum Layer-2s Drop Tenfold After Dencun Upgrade. Image: @alpha_pls on Twitter

The Dencun upgrade on the Ethereum blockchain, activated on the evening of March 13, marks a pivotal step towards focusing on rollups and enabling the world's second-largest cryptocurrency network to function as a suitable database for layer-2 (L2) blockchains.

• Details: Dencun Upgrade Successfully Implemented on Ethereum Mainnet

Prior to the event, there were various analyses predicting that this Ethereum upgrade would almost eliminate transaction fees (gas fees) on layer-2s. Dencun provides the necessary scale to support millions of users on L2s, bringing more newcomers into the Ethereum ecosystem.

Indeed, as predicted, fees recorded on L2s have decreased significantly after the event, sometimes by up to ten times compared to pre-Dencun levels.

Gas fee averages across L2s in USD and ETH. Source: Marcov on Dune Analytics (noon on March 14, 2024)

According to analysis on Dune Analytics, the average transaction fee on Optimism is $0.05; Base records an average transaction fee of $0.064, and zkSync Era, known for favorably reducing gas percentages for users, now has an average transaction fee of only $0.161. These figures contrast sharply with the pre-Dencun era, where fees often ranged from $0.5 to $1 USD during periods of Ethereum network congestion.

In terms of average fee reductions, it's clear to see how much gas fees have decreased before and after Dencun. Some experiences below illustrate the impact post-Dencun:

Account @0xCygaar minted 999 ERC20 tokens on a test contract deployed on zkSync last year. In practice, costs have decreased approximately tenfold.

Cost before using blobs: $0.81 USD.
Cost after using blobs: $0.08 USD.

Optimism has minimized gas fees following the BedRock upgrade and further reductions with blobs integration.

Base swiftly integrated blobs into its blockchain, reducing transaction fees by over 600 times for a single transaction.

Other L2s built on Optimism's OP Stack, such as Zora and Ancient8 Chain, have also reported transaction fees over ten times lower than before March 13.

Notably, Starknet, after officially announcing successful synchronization with the Dencun upgrade, now boasts gas fees ranging from $0.01 to $0.04 USD. Previously, a single gas transaction on Starknet cost approximately $2 USD, with peak times reaching up to $7 USD.

Meanwhile, Arbitrum has yet to complete its Dencun update, so transaction fees remain unchanged. The project announced plans to implement the Dencun upgrade on the evening of March 14.

Layer-2 Blast encountered blockchain downtime after the activation of Dencun, taking nearly an hour to resolve.

However, the current low gas fees on L2s could be attributed to Dencun's recent introduction of less than 24 hours and limited adoption of blobs. Therefore, the situation may evolve as other platforms begin to utilize Ethereum's EIP-4844 in the coming days.