Share this article
Layer 2 Network Arbitrum Surpasses Ethereum in Daily Transactions
Arbitrum’s dominance continues to grow in the first quarter of 2023 as the number of unique addresses on Arbitrum reaches an all-time high.
Updated Feb 22, 2023, 3:34 p.m. Published Feb 22, 2023, 6:00 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
On Tuesday, Feb. 21, layer 2 scaling system Arbitrum surpassed Ethereum in daily transactions, increasing Arbitrum’s dominance as the leading layer 2 rollup.
The number of daily transactions on the Arbitrum, the fourth-largest blockchain overall in terms of total value locked (TVL), jumped from 159,919 in daily transactions on Jan. 1 to over 1,103,398 at the time of press, representing a roughly 590% increase in less than two months, according to block explorer Arbiscan.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
In comparison, the number of daily transactions on Ethereum increased a meager 46% in the same period to 1,084,290, per Etherscan.
Moreover, the number of unique addresses on Arbitrum’s network has reached an all-time high of about 2.95 million addresses, and data from TVL aggregator DeFiLlama shows that Arbitrum’s total value locked jumped 81% since Jan. 1 to roughly $1.85 billion.
Arbitrum’s move ahead of Ethereum follows GMX, a decentralized perpetual exchange native to Arbitrum, overtaking Ethereum in daily fees last week. The growing layer 2 ecosystem has also seen many financial applications emerge like Camelot, Vela Exchange and Radiant Capital, which have all seen their users and transactions increase by over 100% in the past 24 hours, per Nansen data.
Despite Arbitrum’s boost in transactions and addresses, Arbitrum is still lagging behind Ethereum in terms of network fees.
At press time, Ethereum’s one-day fees stand at $6.7 million, while Arbitrum’s one-day fees sit at roughly $154,000, which is less than 2.3% of Ethereum’s network fees for the day, according to cryptofees.info.
The increased activity on Arbitrum may stem from users hoping and speculating about a potential Arbitrum airdrop, despite the lack of plans and announcements from Arbitrum developers about a potential token drop, according to Walter Teng, vice president of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Solana’s new phase is ‘much more about finance,’ says Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante
The Solana ecosystem has spent the past year doubling down on a financial infrastructure, Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante told CoinDesk.
What to know:
- Solana’s latest phase looks a lot less flashy than its memecoin-fueled highs, and that may be the goal.
- Armani Ferrante, CEO of crypto exchange Backpack, told CoinDesk in an interview the Solana ecosystem has spent the past year doubling down on a more sober focus: financial infrastructure. A
- fter years of experimentation as the wider crypto industry focused on NFTs, games and social tokens, attention is now shifting back toward decentralized finance, trading and payments.
Top Stories
