The Ethereum (ETH) network has several layer-2 projects intended to increase scalability and also reduce transaction costs. Polygon (MATIC) is Ethereum’s most well-known scaling solution. This is a so-called extra layer that works on top of the Ethereum blockchain to enable faster transactions at a lower cost.
In addition to Polygon, Arbitrum and Optimism (OP) are so-called ‘optimistic rollups’. They are called rollups because they aggregate thousands of transactions into batches before being submitted to the mainnet. In addition, the ‘optimistic’ part refers to the fact that the transactions are not checked, but immediately approved. Validators then have one week to check the entire bundle for fraudulent transactions.
Arbitrum Outperforms Ethereum
On Tuesday, February 21, Arbitrum managed to surpass Ethereum in the number of daily transactions. Data from Arbiscan shows that the number of daily transactions on Arbitrum, the fourth largest blockchain in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL), rose from 159,919 on January 1 to 1,101,398 on February 21. This represents an increase of approximately 590% in less than two months.
At the same time late data from Etherscan see that the number of transactions on Ethereum on February 21 was equal to 1,084,290. From January 1, this number has increased by ‘only’ 46%.
In addition, the number of unique addresses on Arbitrum’s network has reached an all-time high of approximately 2.95 million. Data from DeFiLlama also shows that Arbitrum’s TVL is up 81% since Jan. 1 to $1.86 billion.
Despite Arbitrum’s boost in transactions and addresses, it still lags behind Ethereum in terms of network costs. Dates from Cryptofees.info shows that Ethereum’s one-day cost is currently equivalent to $6.7 million, while Arbitrum’s one-day cost is around $154,000. This is less than 2.3% of Ethereum’s network costs.
Reason behind increase in activity
The increased activity on Arbitrum may stem from users hoping and speculating about a possible Arbitrum airdrop, despite the lack of plans and developer announcements about it.
Arbitrum does not (yet) have a token and users hope to be able to earn it in an airdrop in the future by using the network now.