Ethereum mainnet hits record-breaking 32B weekly gas expenditure

Ethereum (ETH) Layer 2 (L2) networks spent a record-breaking 32 billion gas — a year-on-year increase of 22.8% — to validate transactions and activate bridges between Jan. 9 and Jan. 15, according to Dune Analytics data.

Optimism (OP) contributed around 50% of the gas spent — with a seven-day moving average of 2.8 billion gas — followed by Arbitrum with about 30% of the share, according to Dune Analytics data.

As of Jan. 17, L2 network gas expenditure on ETH mainnet was 66.35 billion, placing it on track to beat the 100 billion mark for the third consecutive month —having first crossed the 100 billion milestone in November 2022.

L2 networks processed more transactions than ETH mainnet

The top L2 networks — Arbitrum and OP — have seen a significant rise in their activity, leading to them processing more combined transactions than the ETH mainnet.

As of Jan. 15, OP and Arbitrum had a combined transaction volume of 1.2 million, while ETH was roughly 1 million, according to Dune Analytics data.

Journalist at CryptoSlate

Oluwapelumi is a believer in the transformative power Bitcoin and the blockchain industry holds.