Key Points
- Ethereum’s layer 2 networks have recently achieved record transaction activity.
- The surge in layer 2 transactions indicates a shift in activity from Ethereum’s mainnet to its layer 2 networks.
Ethereum’s layer 2 networks are experiencing a surge in transaction activity, hitting new highs.
These networks recently recorded an aggregate daily transaction count of 12.2 million, which only includes data from layer 2 networks, not exchanges.
Leading Layer 2 Networks
According to Growthepie, the Base network had the highest transaction activity in the last 24 hours, averaging over 3.6 million transactions. This was nearly double the transaction count of Arbitrum One.
Manta also gave a significant boost to the layer 2 performance, achieving over 1.31 million transactions in the same period. In fact, Manta’s transactions have seen an increase since 5 August.
Layer 2 Networks Outperforming Mainnet
Interestingly, the most robust growth in layer 2 networks is seen in the newer ones. Older networks like Polygon and Optimism have been surpassed by Base and Manta in terms of transaction count.
Base also leads in terms of fees paid by users. The new and popular layer 2 networks are gaining traction in transaction count and fees, while Ethereum mainnet transactions have been declining on a yearly basis.
The mainnet’s transaction count peaked at over 1.96 million transactions on 14 January, but was down to 1.08 million transactions on 13 August.
A comparison of daily active addresses between the Ethereum mainnet and its layer 2 networks reveals a similar trend. The mainnet’s highest active address count in the last 12 months was 1.009 million addresses on 13 September, 2023. Its highest figures in 2024 were just over 585,000 addresses on 22 June, with 303,268 active addresses on 13 August.
In contrast, Ethereum’s layer 2 networks peaked at 2.52 million active addresses on 23 June this year, and had over 1.54 million active addresses on 13 August.
In short, the data indicates that most of the activity on Ethereum is now taking place on its layer 2 networks.
