Ethereum's weekly blob fees hit 2025 lows

The Ethereum network’s main root of income from layer-2 (L2) scaling chains — “blob fees” — has sunk to the lowest play levels truthful acold this year, according to information from Etherscan. 

In the week ending March 30, Ethereum earned lone 3.18 Ether (ETH) from blob fees, according to Etherscan, oregon astir $6,000 US dollars arsenic of April 1. 

This fig marks a 73% driblet from the anterior week and a much than 95% diminution from the week ending March 16, erstwhile Ethereum’s income from blob fees exceeded 84 ETH, Etherscan said successful an X post. 

Source: Etherscan

Related: Ethereum fees poised for rebound amid L2, blob uptick

Post-Dencun increasing pains

In March 2024, Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade migrated L2 transaction information to impermanent offchain stores called “blobs.”

The upgrade chopped costs for users but besides reduced wide interest gross for Ethereum — initially by arsenic overmuch arsenic 95%, according to information from plus manager VanEck.

“ETH Fees Were Weak Due to Lack of Blob Revenues arsenic L2s Have Not Filled Available Capacity,” Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s caput of integer plus research, said successful a Nov. 1, 2024, post connected the X platform.

Since then, maturation successful blob fees has been unsteady. Ethereum’s play blob interest income peaked astatine astir $1 cardinal successful November earlier declining sharply successful caller weeks, according to data from Dune Analytics. 

Ethereum’s blob interest income has been uneven. Source: Dune Analytics

Ethereum’s ongoing conflict to gain meaningful income from blob fees underscores concerns astir the network’s scaling model, which relies heavy connected L2s for transaction throughput.

“Ethereum’s aboriginal volition revolve astir however efficaciously it serves arsenic a information availability motor for L2s,” arndxt, writer of the Threading connected the Edge newsletter, said successful a March 31 X post. 

According to an X post by Michael Nadeau, laminitis of The DeFi Report, L2 transaction volumes would request to summation much than 22,000-fold for blob fees to afloat offset Ethereum’s highest transaction interest revenues. 

However, Ethereum’s economics are inactive evolving. For instance, the network’s Pectra Upgrade — which aims to importantly alteration however Ethereum allocates blob abstraction — is scheduled for this year. 

“The program is simple: standard Ethereum arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable to seizure arsenic overmuch marketshare arsenic we tin - interest astir interest gross later,” Sassal, laminitis of The Daily Gwei, said in a March 17 X post. 

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