Transactions on Arbitrum Surpass Bitcoin — Along With Fees
Even as transactions accelerate, the cost to use the Arbitrum blockchain remains low
AppleZoomZoom/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
The number of transactions on the Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution, Arbitrum, has now surpassed those on the Bitcoin blockchain. And fees have jumped accordingly.
Arbitrum is an “optimistic rollup” that runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain and is designed by New York City-based startup Offchain Labs.
According to information on Crypto Fees, Arbitrum received almost $800,000 in transaction fees over the past day, whereas Bitcoin had only seen around $600,000.
Although the 7-day average fees received on Arbitrum (ARB) are still slightly lower than that of Bitcoin’s — at $387,000 versus Bitcoin’s $630,000 — the steadily increasing number could indicate that there are now more users posting transactions on the Ethereum L2 network than on Bitcoin (BTC).
There has been a growing number of transactions on Arbitrum following its Nitro upgrade in August last year, so much so that it has overtaken the number of transactions on Ethereum itself.
Despite the number of transaction fees on Arbitrum increasing, the cost to transact remains relatively constant.
The cost to send ETH on Arbitrum is currently around $0.10 and the cost to swap tokens is estimated to be $0.28, by contrast, the average transaction fee on Bitcoin remains at roughly $2.05.
Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.
Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.
Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.
The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.