Ethereum Transaction Fees Would Be Five Times Higher Without Layer-2 Rollup Networks

According to Blockworks, a recent report from blockchain infrastructure unit Chainstack reveals that Ethereum transaction fees would be five times more expensive if not for layer-2 rollup networks like Optimism and Arbitrum. Without these networks, fees would be between 360% and 419% higher, and transactions would take nearly twice as long on average. Wait times could even stretch to 114 seconds compared to a block time of about 12 seconds. Rollups are designed to solve the blockchain trilemma, a tradeoff layer-1 networks must make between security, scalability, and decentralization. Ethereum, for example, is built with security and decentralization in mind but struggles with scalability. Transaction fees generally rise alongside user activity and can grow exponentially at times of peak demand. With rollups, Ethereum is able to offload some of the pressure. There are two popular rollup solutions today: Optimistic rollups and zero-knowledge (zk) rollups. Optimistic rollups, such as Arbitrum and Optimism, process transactions off-chain and then post the data of the transaction back onto Ethereum as 'calldata.' ZK rollups, such as Polygon zkEVM and zkSync Era, post all data on-chain but use cryptography to validate whether transactions are accurate without revealing the information itself. Usage of rollups has grown considerably over the past two years, with Arbitrium and Optimism often together handling more daily transactions than Ethereum mainnet. Chainstack's report highlights the vital role rollups play in Ethereum's overall network efficiency. Although Ethereum gas fees have seen a constant uptrend between 2021 and 2023 despite the popularity of rollups, Chainstack argues that L2 networks still serve as a necessary and useful counterbalance.