Ethereum L1 sets a new 2025 record: over 1.9 million transactions per day with minimal fees

The Ethereum network recently demonstrated a significant jump in its throughput. According to the latest data from Etherscan, approximately 1,913,481 transactions were processed by L1 in one day, with an average fee of only $0.16. This achievement not only confirms the growing efficiency of the network but also shows that Ethereum is successfully scaling without displacing ordinary users due to inflated fees.

How these results were achieved

This breakthrough was made possible by two key technological upgrades implemented during 2025: Pectra and Fusaka.

Fusaka is the primary reason for the current success. Deployed in early December, this update directly expanded the processing capacity of the first-layer blockchain. Most notably, it increased the size of each block by about a third, allowing L1 to accommodate significantly more transactions in each block.

Additionally, PeerDAS — a new feature within Fusaka — radically changed the approach to data processing. Instead of all nodes downloading full data volumes, which previously created a critical bottleneck, nodes can now verify blobs — large blocks of transaction data — by selectively checking small fragments. Blobs, extended in Fusaka compared to the previous Dencun update, function like additional modules attached to the main block, delivering data at low cost without competing with regular transactions.

Pectra, implemented in May of this year, laid the foundation for subsequent scaling. The update optimized interactions between second-layer protocols — such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base — and the Ethereum base chain. Specifically, the number of available “slots” for L2 data doubled from three to six per block. This expansion of free space for L2 information significantly reduced the costs of finalizing operations for the second-layer ecosystem, preventing overall network congestion.

What still needs to be addressed

Despite impressive progress, Ethereum scaling challenges remain unfinished.

The ecosystem still suffers from fragmentation. Users often have to perform complex operations to move assets between L2 solutions, which hinders broad adoption. This limits integration and smooth interaction between different layers of the network.

Another critical issue is the continuous growth of state data — the complete set of all accounts, balances, and smart contracts. In theory, this volume could expand to terabytes or even petabytes. If the State reaches such scales, ordinary users will not be able to afford a hard drive large enough to run their own node, threatening the decentralization of the network.

Therefore, although Ethereum L1 achieved remarkable milestones in 2025, further innovations remain critically necessary to overcome remaining fragmentation and scaling issues of state data.