Base, Arbitrum lead L2 activity and revenue generation in 2025

A new metric data report by Dune, a platform specializing in on-chain data analysis, shows that Base and Arbitrum are the leading layer-2 (L2) blockchains by on-chain activities and revenue generation. 

In terms of value transferred, Base and Arbitrum dominate the space with market shares of 55% and 35%, respectively, with Optimism coming at a distant third.

However, the new data provided information on the activities of L2 blockchains other than Base and Arbitrum, which are also leading in specific metrics such as value transferred by transaction and gas unit.

According to Dune, high value per transaction often indicates meaningful usage, like DeFi trades or large transfers, over spammy or low-value interactions. It can reflect the blockchain’s ability to support real-world use cases that require significant value movement, while value transferred per gas unit reflects the economic density and the efficiency of the blockchain in handling valuable activities relative to resources.

In this area, the data shows that blockchains such as Skoll, Zksync, and Arbitrum take the lead in terms of their efficiency.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Filippo (@filippoarman) reports that the biggest winners in terms of the value of transactions per unique wallet are Blast and Optimism. However, Dune also pointed out that this metric can sometimes be misleading because it’s prone to distortions which are mostly due to Sybil attacks.

The gulf between the blockchains becomes increasingly clear in the revenue (aka transaction fees) section, which according to Dune, is a great metric because it represents the revenue (transaction fees), costs (L1 fees), and profit (L2 fees).

Base takes a major share in terms of transaction fees, accounting for over 80% of the market share. Arbitrum moves between 5 to 10% and is followed by Abstract and Optimism at approximately 5 to 3% of the market share.

In analyzing this data, Filippo mentioned that in terms of revenue per transaction, a metric that sheds light on how much profit the layer 2 blockchain generates on average from each transaction processed on a given day, Linea leads and is then followed by Base, zkSync, and Polygon zkEVM.

However, when it comes to overall profit (profit = revenue – L1 costs), Base comes on top again and is followed by Arbitrum on the chart. Both blockchains lead in terms of profit and profit per transaction.

Ethereum still dominates with 50%+ share with regards to DEX volume. As for the L2s, Base and Arbitrum lead the charge, with Base taking roughly 25 to 30% share and Arbitrum claiming 15%, while others trail far behind.

Ethereum still dominates NFT trading volume, with a share of over 80%. zkSync is second in the L2 front, with a 10% – 15% share, followed by Base (3.5%) and Blast (2.5%).

Base has proven to be a high performer in revenue and profit, while Arbitrum has maintained a positively consistent metric across nearly all metrics. As the report shows, Base and Arbitrum aren’t alone at the top; a few L2 blockchains, such as zkSync, Scroll, Linea, Blast, and Optimism, excel at certain metrics.

The future of L2 blockchains on Ethereum

The report also reflects an increase in the performance and usage of L2 blockchains, echoing the sentiments of Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, who said that the future of the Ethereum blockchain is tied to L2 scaling solutions.

Lubin said this at the Digital Asset Summit, adding that Ethereum’s security and developed infrastructure make it the best foundation for improving networks, allowing developers to build without the need for a new layer-1 network.

However, there’s no absolute agreement with Lubin’s position as investors consider L2 blockchains as parasitic to the Ethereum L1 blockchain, citing that L2 blockchains adds little value to the L1 blockchain compared to the value they derive from Ethereum.

Given the usage data and metrics available, there’s no doubt that L2 blockchains on Ethereum are here to stay, and the only way forward will be for both layers to forge a mutually beneficial pact.

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