The recent claim frenzy for the airdrop of SCR, the governance token for the new Ethereum layer-2 network Scroll, has resulted in a significant spike in blob fees, reaching a peak of $4.52. This increase marks the third instance of elevated blob costs following Ethereum ’s Dencun upgrade in March. The surge in fees was attributed to the high volume of activity surrounding the airdrop, which took place on October 22 when Scroll’s governance token was listed on a major exchange.
Data from Dune Analytics indicates that blob prices hit a four-month high during this period. Notably, such peaks in blob fees have only been observed previously during a rise in layer-2 activity in July and upon the launch of Blobscriptions in late March. While higher blob fees translate to increased revenue for the network, they also lead to greater expenses for users engaged in transactions and transfers on Ethereum L2s.
Following the peak, blob fees have quickly retracted, approaching zero as activity on layer-2 solutions diminished. This development comes shortly after a warning from Ethereum ’s co-founder about the nearing full capacity of the “blob count,” which could impede scalability if left unaddressed. In response to this potential issue, Ethereum developers announced a new enhancement proposal aimed at adjusting the maximum blob capacity per block.
The proposed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-7742) seeks to implement a dynamic system to optimize blob carrying transactions, thereby enhancing the network’s scalability ahead of the upcoming Pectra fork. Blobs were first introduced during the Dencun upgrade in March, designed to cut transaction costs across Ethereum ’s layer-2 networks. Their implementation has significantly reduced fees, with users experiencing dramatic decreases in costs on services like Arbitrum and Polygon.
