On November 10, 2025, the Ethereum network recorded a landmark moment as gas fees plummeted to a multi-year low of 0.067 Gwei, drastically reducing the cost of on-chain interactions and reshaping the economic landscape for users, developers, and validators alike.
A New Era of Affordable Ethereum Transactions
This dramatic drop in gas fees has made using Ethereum’s base layer (L1) more accessible than it has been in years. With fees hovering around 0.067 Gwei, the real-world costs for common operations have become surprisingly low. Simple swaps on decentralized exchanges now cost between $0.04 and $0.11, while executing an NFT sale comes in at approximately $0.19. This is a stark contrast to the peak of the 2021 bull market, where users could pay $150 or more for a single transaction during periods of network congestion.
The primary drivers behind this shift are twofold. First, the successful implementation of the Dencun upgrade, particularly EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding), introduced “blobs” of data that significantly reduced the cost for Layer 2 networks to post data back to the main Ethereum chain. Second, a broader market slowdown has coincided with a massive migration of everyday activity to Layer 2 scaling solutions (L2s) like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, which now handle a substantial portion of transaction volume, alleviating congestion on the L1.
The Double-Edged Sword for Network Economics
While cheap transactions are a clear win for users, they introduce complex challenges for the long-term economics and security of the Ethereum network. The core of the issue lies in validator incentives and the protocol’s deflationary mechanism.
With transaction fees at historic lows, the daily revenue from burning ETH has also seen a significant decline, falling below 1,000 ETH per day from previous levels of 5,000–10,000 ETH during busier periods. This weakens the deflationary pressure enacted by EIP-1559, increasing the risk that ETH issuance could turn net inflationary if the burn rate remains low. Furthermore, lower fee revenue puts direct financial pressure on validators. Their profitability may erode, which is particularly concerning given the reports of more than $10 billion in ETH awaiting validator exits, potentially adding strain to staking dynamics.
Navigating Ethereum’s Strategic Pivot
This new fee environment is not a fluke but a direct outcome of Ethereum’s deliberate, years-long strategy to become a modular blockchain. In this design, the base layer (L1) is evolving to prioritize security, data availability, and serving as a robust settlement layer for L2s. The explosion of L2 activity is, in fact, a validation of this design, as these networks fundamentally depend on Ethereum’s security and infrastructure.
For traders, developers, and institutional treasuries, this means a strategic rethinking of how to interact with the ecosystem. High-frequency trading and routine operations will naturally gravitate towards L2s for their lower costs and faster throughput. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s L1 will likely retain its role for the highest-value transactions, complex DeFi operations, and scenarios where its unparalleled security is non-negotiable.
The road ahead involves navigating this new normal. The ecosystem must monitor key metrics like validator exits and the ETH burn rate to ensure that the security budget remains robust. The success of Ethereum’s scaling model now hinges on proving that a high-value, secure base layer can thrive economically in a world where most of the activity happens on the layers above it.
