Base Faces Delays Amid Surge in On-Chain Activity in L2 Network

On March 20, the daily trading volume in the L2 solution Base reached $369 million, increasing by more than 50% from the previous day. TVL of the protocol hit a record high of $761 million. 

According to the dashboard on Dune, the network recorded 1.65 million transactions and 334,000 active users in a single day. 

Base’s momentum began to grow following the activation of the Dencun update in Ethereum. After the hard fork launch, fees in the second-layer solution dropped from $0.7 (as of March 13) to a minimum of $0.001.

However, with the increase in transactions, the average gas fee on Base rose again to $0.5. 

The Coinbase service status page indicates that the L2 network is experiencing increased transaction fees due to “high network traffic.” 

“Some users have experienced transaction delays due to too low fees, and some wallets like Coinbase Wallet currently do not allow cancellation. For now, a workaround would be to use a wallet that supports transaction cancellation,” platform representatives warned. 

One X user complained about fees exceeding $5 and errors during transfers. 

Base transactions now $5 >.

Base transactions now failing.

Is this the new Ethereum?

Come home to Solana. pic.twitter.com/mD9w2GMVX4

— Kaizen (@KAIZ3NS) March 20, 2024

“Is this the new Ethereum? I’m going back to Solana,” he added. 

Lead protocol developer Jesse Pollak also responded to the situation. He stated that as “Base gains more momentum, more challenges and criticism will arise.” 

PSA: with more @base momentum will come more challenges and criticism.

my ask for builders:

1. remember our mission is to create a global onchain economy that increases innovation, creativity, and freedom
2. be positive, open minded, and willing to learn
3. stay based https://t.co/G8mnBogPKC

— Jesse Pollak (jesse.xyz) ?️ (@jessepollak) March 20, 2024

Back in February, opBNB from BNB Chain developers overtook Arbitrum in terms of total transactions among L2 networks.