On September 13, 2021, fresh data from Bitcoin.com News revealed that Ethereum network gas fees have subsided sharply from recent highs. On September 7, the average transaction fee peaked at $59, with the median fee reaching $20. By September 12, the average fee had dropped to approximately $10, and the median stood at $9.29, effectively halving overall costs.
Mainnet Fees Remain High; ERC20 Transfers and DeFi Interactions Cost More
Despite the decline, Layer 1 Ethereum transfers are still expensive. According to Etherscan and bitinfocharts, a standard ETH transfer currently costs between $3.39 (low priority) and $18.74 (average). Smart contract interactions are even pricier: a typical ERC20 token transfer costs $10.48, while using Uniswap incurs a fee of $32.25 at the time of writing. This means that engaging with DeFi protocols or NFT marketplaces remains significantly more costly than simple ETH transfers.
Layer 2 Solutions: Fees as Low as $0.11
To address high fees, the Ethereum ecosystem has developed various Layer 2 scaling solutions. According to l2fees.info data as of September 12, the per-transaction costs for major L2 projects are as follows:
- Loopring: $0.11
- Zksync: $0.18
- Polygon Hermez: $0.40
- Arbitrum One: $1.61
- Optimism: $2.38
Compared to the lowest mainnet fee of $3.39, these Layer 2 solutions are 46% to 97% cheaper. Loopring’s fee of $0.11 is merely 3% of the mainnet minimum, showcasing a dramatic improvement in affordability.
Competing Blockchains Offer Even Lower Fees; Solana at $0.00025
Other blockchain networks boast even lower transaction costs. Messari data shows that Cardano (ADA) had an average fee of $0.59 on September 6. Solana’s official website indicates an average fee of $0.00025 per transfer. While L2 solutions greatly reduce costs, they still lag behind native low-fee chains like Solana in terms of absolute price.
Fee Revenue Comparison: Ethereum Still Dominates
Despite declining fees, Ethereum remains the most profitable blockchain in terms of total fee revenue. According to cryptofees.info, on September 12, Ethereum accrued $22 million in daily fees. On the same day, Uniswap generated $3.3 million, Optimism $285,000, and Arbitrum One $90,000. In comparison, Bitcoin’s daily fee revenue was only $448,000, and Avalanche (AVAX) saw approximately $216,000.
Ethereum’s Layer 2 solutions are emerging as a critical pathway to lower user costs, while the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 upgrade aims to address scalability at the base layer. For now, users can significantly reduce expenses by opting for L2 transfers and interactions.