The Ethereum ecosystem has skilled a major discount in gas fees, with a lower reaching 95% in the 12 months following the introduction of the Dencun update.
This end result highlights the success of the adjustments made to the community to enhance scalability and accessibility, decreasing transaction prices on Layer-2 options.
Gas fees drastically decreased after the Dencun update on Ethereum
The Dencun update, applied on March 13, 2024, mixed two essential developments: Cancun, associated to the execution layer, and Deneb, targeted on the consensus layer.
Moreover, it launched 9 Ethereum Enchancment Proposals (EIP), which improved varied elements of the community’s infrastructure.
One in all the principal targets of the update was to decrease transaction fees, a historic impediment for the large-scale adoption of the blockchain.
The data from YCharts exhibits that the common gas charge has dropped from 72 gwei in March 2024 to the present 2.7 gwei, a change that has made Ethereum extra aggressive in the cryptocurrency landscape.
Earlier than the update, the fees for a swap on Ethereum averaged round 86 {dollars}, whereas the sale of an NFT concerned common prices of 145 {dollars}.
Nevertheless, the most up-to-date knowledge from Etherscan reveal how the prices are considerably extra contained in the present day:
- – 0.39 {dollars} per swap
- – 0.65 {dollars} for the sale of an NFT
This substantial discount is selling better adoption of the blockchain, making it extra accessible even to customers with smaller budgets.
The value of Ether crashes by 53%
Regardless of the vital drop in gas fees, the worth of Ether (ETH) has skilled a pointy decline over the course of the 12 months. From March 2024 to March 2025, the worth fell from 4,070 {dollars} to about 1,900 {dollars}, marking a 53% drop.
Dominik Harz, co-founder of Construct on Bitcoin (BOB), commented on the state of affairs by highlighting how Ethereum has underperformed throughout this era.
It highlighted that between the explosion of memecoins on Solana and the market volatility, the sector is searching for a new, extra sustainable and safe paradigm for decentralized finance (DeFi).
The following main community improve, Pectra, was not too long ago activated on the Sepolia testnet. Nevertheless, the builders initially encountered error messages and empty mined blocks.
The developer Marius van der Wijden clarified that, as soon as these technical points are resolved, Pectra will deliver essential enhancements to the Ethereum community. Specifically:
- – Improve in knowledge area for Layer-2 options
- – Discount of transaction prices
- – Larger execution capability
Regardless of the progress, Van der Wijden warned that Ethereum is dropping floor as the go-to blockchain for builders. He emphasised that Pectra won’t be a definitive resolution, however simply one other step in the community’s optimization journey.
Ethereum between innovation and market pressures
Though the Dencun update has considerably improved the community’s effectivity, the collapse of the Ether worth and the difficulties in sustaining a dominant place symbolize essential challenges for Ethereum.
The following 12 months can be essential to evaluate the total influence of those updates and the way forward for the blockchain ecosystem.
