Latest Ethereum News and Insights | Yellow.com

Ethereum's sky-high transaction costs have long been a thorn in the side of crypto enthusiasts. But that's old news now. The network's gas fees have taken a nosedive, hitting record lows. This could be Ethereum's ticket to the big leagues. The numbers don't lie. EgyHash, a crypto trader and on-chain analyst, spilled the beans in a recent study shared by CryptoQuant. ETH's daily mean gas price has bottomed out at around 2.9 Gwei. That's uncharted territory. But wait, there's more. The daily mean fees in USD have plummeted to about $0.85, a multi-year low. As a result, the daily mean burn rate has hit rock bottom, with only about 115 ETH going up in smoke each day. Here's the kicker: despite the fee drop, Ethereum's daily mean transactions have held steady or even grown compared to the past two years. Not too shabby. So, what's behind this fee freefall? EgyHash points the finger squarely at the Dencun Upgrade, rolled out in March. This upgrade introduced "Blobs", a new type of transaction that slashes data publication costs on Ethereum by up to 100% for Layer 2 networks. This could be a game-changer for Ethereum. Lower fees make the platform more user-friendly and cost-effective for new applications, including NFTs and DeFi. It's like Ethereum just got a major facelift. The crypto community is buzzing with optimism. These rock-bottom fees show that Ethereum is serious about sustainability and cementing its place as top dog in the blockchain world. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. EgyHash reckons investors might not be popping champagne just yet. Why? A big chunk of ETH usage is moving to layer 2 solutions, which could lead to user and liquidity fragmentation. Since the Dencun Upgrade, ETH's price has been on a rollercoaster ride. It took a 35% nosedive even after Spot Ethereum ETFs got the green light. Meanwhile, the overall ETH supply has ballooned by about 197,000, worth a cool $500 million. So, is Ethereum's fee freefall a stroke of genius or a potential own goal? Only time will tell. But one thing's for sure: the crypto world is watching closely.

Ethereum's layer-2 scaling ecosystem has hit a new milestone. Daily transactions reached a record 12.42 million on August 12. This data comes from Growthepie, an Ethereum layer-2 block space analytics platform. Leon Waidmann, head of research at the Onchain Foundation, chimed in on X. He reckons "scalability is improving rapidly" and "user activity is at its peak." No kidding. The numbers are pretty impressive. Since the start of 2024, daily transactions have shot up by 140%. That's not small potatoes. Growthepie's counting method is worth noting. They only include transactions from users or smart contracts. System transactions don't make the cut. So what's driving this growth? Look no further than Base, Coinbase's L2 blockchain. It's been on fire lately. In late July, transactions on Base peaked at over 4 million. Basescan, a metrics platform for Base, backs this up. They're reporting a whopping 700% increase in daily transactions over the past six months. That's bonkers. Earlier this year, Cointelegraph pointed to memecoin mania as the culprit. Token minters are flocking to Base for its lower costs and higher throughput. L2beat, another industry metrics platform, has some interesting insights. Overall throughput is up, with average TPS doubling in just two months. More scaling platforms are popping up too. Growthepie dropped another bombshell. Layer-2 networks now host more stablecoins than Solana and Binance Chain combined. We're talking 150% more than Solana and 94% more than BNB Smart Chain. Meanwhile, Ethereum's layer-1 is chugging along steadily. Daily transactions have hovered around 1.1 million for most of this year, according to Etherscan. But here's a kicker: average gas fees on L1 Ethereum have hit yearly lows. Tether, the stablecoin issuer, minted 1 billion Tether for just 53 cents on August 13. Arkham, a blockchain intelligence platform, confirmed this.

Cardano, once hailed as Ethereum's potential successor, is facing a tough reality check. The blockchain network's adoption has stalled over the past year. What's going on with Cardano? According to recent data from analytics firm IntoTheBlock, user base is stalled. The numbers don't lie. Cardano's total holder count remains unchanged from a year ago, stuck at around 4.45 million. This plateau follows a period of significant growth during the 2021 bull run. IntoTheBlock's analysis paints a sobering picture. New investors aren't flocking to Cardano like they used to. The network's appeal as an Ethereum alternative seems to have lost its shine. So, what's the deal? It looks like other networks are stealing Cardano's thunder. Solana and Base are now the cool kids on the block, attracting investors who might've considered ADA in the past. This stagnation isn't great news for Cardano. A growing user base is crucial for any asset's long-term success. Without it, ADA might struggle to make significant moves in the future. But it's not all doom and gloom. Cardano's showing some signs of life in other areas. Since April, the network has maintained a stable trend in daily active addresses. This suggests a committed core community is still using the blockchain regularly. IntoTheBlock puts it this way: "Despite the slowdown in new users, the network's transaction count and active user base have remained stable since April, indicating a committed community that continues to engage with the protocol." Here's another bright spot: Cardano's been processing a whopping $7.2 billion in daily volume lately. That's nothing to sneeze at, outpacing many rival networks. There's also a silver lining in terms of investor behavior. HODLing conviction seems to be on the rise, with nearly 40% of ADA supply sitting dormant for a year or more. Looks like some folks are playing the long game. The big question now is whether Cardano can break out of this rut and attract fresh blood. The crypto world moves fast, and ADA needs to step up its game if it wants to stay relevant. Only time will tell if this is just a bump in the road or a sign of bigger troubles ahead.

An early Ethereum investor is making waves in the crypto market. They've deposited 48,500 ETH to an exchange over the past month. This comes as Ether's market cap took an $80 billion hit. The whale bought 1 million ETH at $0.31 during the ICO. That was 3,300 days ago. Now, they're cashing out at an average of $3,176 per ETH. Talk about a windfall. The ROI? A mind-boggling 1,024,416%. Not too shabby for a nine-year wait. The whale's been busy. They've made 17 transactions to OKX in the past month. The deposits started small but ramped up. The last three were 5,000 ETH each. There's still 15,600 ETH left in the whale's wallet. If they keep selling, we could see another $41 million hit the market soon. But it's not just this whale making moves. Block Tower Capital sold 9,232 ETH worth about $25 million. They used FalconX, Cumberland, Wintermute, and B2C2Group to do it. Interestingly, despite these big sales, ETH is actually leaving exchanges overall. CryptoQuant data shows exchange reserves dropped from 17.1 million to 16.8 million in August. The launch of the spot Ethereum ETF hasn't helped prices either. Net inflows are still negative, thanks to outflows from Grayscale's ETHE. Ether's price is having a rough Q3. It's currently sitting at $2,649. So what's next for ETH? With whales cashing out and ETFs not providing the expected boost, it's anyone's guess. But one thing's for sure - the crypto world is never dull.

Optimism, a key player in the Ethereum scaling space, is shaking things up. They've just dropped a bombshell roadmap for native interoperability across Layer 2 chains in their ecosystem. This move could be a game-changer for the so-called "Superchain". Currently, Layer 2 chains in the Optimism ecosystem rely on Ethereum mainnet for secure communication and asset transfer. This setup has led to fragmented assets and users. The new plan aims to fix this headache. The goal? Make the Superchain feel like one chain. Optimism's devs are gunning for a unified system where users, assets, and developers can move around without breaking a sweat. "The Superchain needs to feel like one chain," the developers stated. "To achieve this, we're setting out to build a unified Superchain where users, assets, and developers move seamlessly across the network and beyond." OP Mainnet is the ecosystem's flagship network. Other chains include Base, Mode, Zora, Lyra, and Aevo. Worldcoin, Sam Altman's digital identity network, is also jumping on the bandwagon with its own Layer 2 network using the OP Stack. The implementation is no small feat. It includes a protocol for cross-chain messages and a universal token standard called SuperchainERC20. These aim to boost cross-chain portability. Security isn't being left out. The devs plan to deploy an interoperable fault-proof system to ensure safe asset transfers. It's a crucial step in building trust in the new system. The roadmap lays out a clear path forward. First up is a developer network to test the message-passing protocol and token standard. Next comes a test network, followed by the mainnet rollout. But Optimism isn't stopping there. They're looking beyond their own ecosystem to the wider Ethereum landscape. The plan is to standardize user experiences across different ecosystems using universal cross-chain interfaces like ERC-7683 for asset transfers. It's worth noting that OP Mainnet and other chains in the Optimism ecosystem use optimistic rollups. This scaling solution aggregates Ethereum transactions off-chain, allowing for cheaper processing and addressing Ethereum's scalability issues.