Will Blob Scaling Continue to Lower L2 Fees?
No. This isn't theoretical speculation—it's already a fact: in July 2026, network fees on major L2s like Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism have been below 1 cent for days. The question isn't "will fees keep dropping," but "where is the floor, and when will we hit it."
A leading global cryptocurrency platform,suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.
New user benefit: 20% off trading fees upon registration!！
1. Confirm Your L2's Current Fee Level
What to do: Check the actual fees on the L2 you're using, rather than going by memory.
How to do it:
Look at the data. In July 2026, the median transaction cost for users on major L2s is between $0.004 and $0.008. Base fees are as low as about 0.000017 ETH (approx. $0.03).
You can verify this by:
Opening the L2 fee dashboard on L2beat or Dune Analytics
Checking the average transaction fees over the last 7 days for Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism
Comparing with pre-Dencun upgrade levels in 2024 (when fees mostly ranged from $0.5 to $2)
When you're done: You can state the current median fee for your go-to L2 and confirm it's already below 1 cent.
Prerequisites: None.
2. Understand the Two Phases of Fee Decline
What to do: Get a clear picture of how much fees have dropped and how much further they can drop—these are two different questions.
How to do it:
Phase One: Dencun Upgrade (March 2024) — 90% Drop
EIP-4844 introduced blob transactions, allowing L2s to post data to independently priced blob space instead of expensive calldata. The result: major L2 fees fell by more than 90% overnight.
Phase Two: Pectra + Fusaka Upgrades (2025–2026) — Further Compression
Pectra (May 2025): Increased the target number of blobs per block from 3 to 6, cutting rollup data costs by another 51%
Fusaka (July 2026): Introduced PeerDAS technology, allowing nodes to verify blobs by storing only 1/8 of them, expanding blob capacity by 8x
Current status: Demand has already arrived. In July 2026, the average number of blobs per block has reached 5.2, approaching the target of 6. The blob base fee is no longer zero, but overall fees remain below 1 cent.
When you're done: Be able to recite the key figures for the three phases: 90%, 51%, 8x.
3. Assess How Much Further Fees Can Drop: The Blob Scaling Roadmap
What to do: Look at the roadmap to gauge how much room for fee reduction is left.
How to do it:
After Fusaka, Ethereum activated the BPO (Blob-Parameter-Only Fork) mechanism—allowing adjustments to the number of blobs per block without a hard fork. Two adjustments are already scheduled:
| Timeline | Target Blobs/Block | Max Blobs/Block |
|---|---|---|
| Current (July 2026) | 6 | 9 |
| December 9, 2026 (BPO1) | 10 | 15 |
| January 7, 2027 (BPO2) | 14 | 21 |
By January 2027, blob capacity will increase from about 1.125 MB per block to about 2.625 MB per block, another 2.3x increase. In the long term, PeerDAS technology could theoretically expand capacity to 128 blobs per block.
However, EIP-7918 also introduced a blob base fee price floor, preventing blob fees from dropping to 1 wei due to misjudgments caused by L1 gas fee volatility. In other words, fees can keep falling, but they won't hit zero.
When you're done: Be able to state two numbers: capacity expands another 2.3x by January 2027, and the long-term ceiling could reach 128 blobs per block.
4. What Fee Declines Mean for L2 Profitability
What to do: Can L2s still make money when fees drop? This determines whether they have the incentive to keep optimizing.
How to do it:
Lower fees don't mean L2s are losing money. After Pectra, Base and Linea maintained post-tax profit margins of around 98%, and Blast's margin improved from 50% to 80%. Base's net profit after on-chain costs was $1.12 million.
Why can they stay profitable when fees drop? Because rollups bundle thousands of transactions into one blob. Even though per-transaction fees are low, volume is high enough. In July 2026, Base packs about 2,800 transactions per blob, with a daily L1 bill of around $210,000.
When you're done: Be able to answer: "Can L2s survive when fees drop below 1 cent?" — Yes, by volume.
Key reminder: Falling fees are good for users but affect ETH's deflationary narrative. In July 2026, Ethereum's base fee dropped to 1 Gwei, and daily ETH burn fell below 100 ETH, far less than the roughly 2,000 ETH burned during the 10 Gwei era. ETH supply may enter persistent inflation for the first time. This is the other side of the "fee decline" coin.
5. Assess the Practical Impact on Your Activity
What to do: Based on your usage pattern, decide whether you need to adjust your strategy.
How to do it:
Situation A (Regular L2 user):
You already enjoy sub-1 cent fees. The upcoming scaling will further reduce fee spikes during congestion
No action needed. Fee optimization happens automatically at the protocol level
Situation B (High-frequency or DeFi user):
The low-fee environment has already changed DeFi behavior. Aave v3 saw borrowing rates drop by 40 bps across three chains because idle USDC flowed to low-cost venues
You can reassess strategies previously abandoned due to high fees (e.g., frequent rebalancing, small-amount arbitrage)
Note: After BPO1 in December 2026 and BPO2 in January 2027, capacity expansion may further reduce peak congestion fees, making it a good time to revisit gas strategies
Situation C (L2 developer or project team):
Low fees make high-volume minting (e.g., 500,000 items) for on-chain games or social apps cost under $1,000, even enabling gas sponsorship
A portion of L2 fee revenue flows back to the ecosystem—Arbitrum allocates 10% of L2 fees to its ecosystem treasury
When you're done: Know which category you belong to, and understand that "for the vast majority, nothing needs to be done."
A leading global cryptocurrency platform,suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.
New user benefit: 20% off trading fees upon registration!！
FAQ
Q1: Why do blob fees sometimes spike suddenly?
Blob has its own independent fee market with dynamic pricing similar to EIP-1559. When blob demand exceeds the per-block target, the base fee rises. In July 2026, the network is already near the target (5.2/6), so extreme congestion could cause spikes, but Fusaka's expansion will ease them.
Q2: Will L2 transaction confirmation slow down when fees drop below 1 cent?
No. In July 2026, L2 throughput continues to stay above 180 TPS without an increase in failed transactions. Fees and speed are separate dimensions—lower fees don't affect performance.
Q3: What's the difference between full Danksharding and current blobs?
The current blobs (EIP-4844) are "Proto-Danksharding"—a transitional solution with a maximum of 6–9 blobs per block. Full Danksharding would raise the number of blobs to over 64 and introduce Data Availability Sampling (DAS), allowing validators to verify without downloading complete blobs. Fusaka's PeerDAS is a critical step toward full Danksharding.
Standard for confirming you understand the impact of blob scaling on L2 fees: you can answer: "If blob capacity expands another 2.3x by January 2027, can fees drop to 1/2.3 of today?" — The answer is not necessarily, because fees also depend on demand, but peak congestion fees will be lower and volatility smaller.
Next step: Open the fee dashboard on L2beat or Dune, compare the current median fees for Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism with pre-Dencun (2024) data. You'll see what a "90% drop" looks like in real numbers.
