Ethereum Achieves Record Transactions Per Second with Layer 2 Integration

According to Cointelegraph, the Ethereum ecosystem has reached a new milestone in transaction speed, setting a record for transactions per second (TPS). This achievement follows the integration of the high-speed Ethereum layer 2 solution, Lighter, into the transaction count. Data from Growthepie indicates that within the last 24 hours, Ethereum processed 24,192 transactions in a single second, marking the highest TPS recorded to date. This surge in transaction speed occurred after the decentralized perpetual futures platform Lighter was included in the count. Lighter has significantly outperformed the Base Chain, processing approximately 4,000 transactions per second compared to Base's 100 to 200. This development has generated excitement among Ethereum enthusiasts, as it highlights a key area of focus for the network alongside decentralization and security enhancements. The recent Pectra and Dencun upgrades have contributed to improved transaction throughput on Ethereum layer 2s. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and others expressed their enthusiasm on social media, noting that Ethereum is scaling as it continues to achieve new TPS records. Ryan Sean Adams, host of the Bankless podcast, attributed the increased scaling to the rise of Lighter and its extensive use of zero-knowledge proofs. He emphasized that layer 2 solutions are adding a 200x scaling factor to Ethereum since October, predicting that TPS could reach 100,000 and eventually 1 million in the coming months. Despite Lighter's impressive speed, it has experienced multiple network outages since its launch on October 1, drawing comparisons to Solana's early days. The Lighter team compensated nearly 3,900 wallets with $774,872 in USDC for an outage on October 28, one of the network's most significant disruptions. The rise of Ethereum layer 2 solutions has sparked discussions about their impact on the Ethereum mainnet's value accrual. Rezso Schmiedt, a founding partner of ₿RRR Capital, questioned where the additional value would come from, noting that while more transactions occur, layer 2s capture fees rather than ETH. This concern highlights the need for aligning incentives between Ethereum and its layer 2 solutions to ensure sustainable value flows back to Ether (ETH). Despite these concerns, much of the Ethereum community remains optimistic about the potential of layer 2 solutions to enhance the ecosystem's scalability and overall performance.