Base leads as Ethereum L2 transactions hit an ATH of 12.5 million

Ethereum layer-2 networks recorded an unprecedented 12.52 million transactions, setting a new all-time high.

According to data from growthepie, this peak, recorded on Aug. 13, surpasses the previous record of 11.5 million transactions set on April 4. After a dip in activity between late April and early June, the transaction count rebounded in mid-June, sustaining a high volume despite market uncertainties.

Leading the charge among Ethereum (ETH) L2s is Coinbase’s Base, which accounted for a substantial 3.98 million transactions on the ATH day. Base’s performance is impressive, given that it is relatively new, having launched just over a year ago. 

Meanwhile, Arbitrum One followed closely, with 1.79 million transactions on Aug. 13. Notably, Base and Arbitrum One were the only networks to record transactions above the 1 million mark yesterday. OP Mainnet, the third on the list, saw 487,820 transactions, while Linea witnessed 409,520 transactions, securing the fourth spot.

In addition to the surge in transaction counts, the stablecoin market cap on Ethereum L2s has grown significantly, reaching $9.69 billion. 

However, despite the increase in transactions and stablecoin market cap, the fees paid by users have seen a dramatic decline. On Aug. 13, users paid only $171,514 in fees, a slump from the $4.2 million peak recorded on March 5. 

Data shows that the 96% drop suggests that while activity on L2 networks is increasing, the cost to users is decreasing, particularly during periods of market volatility. Cumulative active addresses on these L2 networks have also declined 16.23% over the past week to 5.29 million unique wallets.

Moreover, the six leading Ethereum L2 networks — Base, Arbitrum One, Linea, OP Mainnet, Scroll, and zkSync Era — saw varying performance metrics regarding active wallet addresses and cross-chain activity.

As the current front-runner, Base recorded 3.25 million weekly active addresses though only 9.1% of its activity was cross-chain. Despite being nearly three years old, Arbitrum One maintained its strong position with 1.11 million weekly active addresses.

Linea, a one-year-old ZK Rollup, saw solid growth with 493,570 weekly active addresses. Notably, 43.6% of its activity involved multi-chain transactions. Meanwhile, Optimistic Rollup OP Mainnet witnessed 315.32K weekly active addresses. 

Although still in its infancy at nine months, Scroll attracted 272,290 weekly active addresses, with 61.4% of its transactions involving multi-chain activities, the highest among the top six L2s. zkSync Era, another ZK Rollup, recorded 261,260 weekly active addresses.