Ethereum’s growth has been phenomenal, and its DeFi capabilities make it the one of the biggest blockchains. However, at the same time, the cost of being an Ethereum user has made it difficult for some to operate on the chain.
This led to the creation of Layer-2 chains and cheaper L1s. Ergo, the question – Can Ethereum’s recent fee drop change the tide once again?
Ethereum set to defeat Polygon?
Now, while the use cases of the second biggest blockchain in the world will never be lower than that of Polygon, Polygon cannot be surpassed when it comes to operating costs.
Recently, Ethereum’s fees fell to its lowest mark in over two years, with the average cost of a transaction dropping to 0.77 ETH – A level last seen in October 2020.
Ethereum gas fees drop | Source: Santiment – AMBCrypto
On the Ethereum gas fee tracking page too, at the time of writing, the base fee for a transaction on the chain seemed to be averaging at 7 to 8 Gwei. On the contrary, NFT and DEX transaction fees were around $1.52 – $4, at press time.
Ethereum gas fees | Source: Etherscan
On the contrary, Polygon’s base fees today ranged from 40 Gwei to 66 Gwei. It even peaked at 100 Gwei at one point during the day.
Polygon gas fees | Source: Polygonscan
Even so, Polygon is far cheaper than Ethereum. The reason behind this is the calculation of gas fees since Ethereum is calculated in ETH while Polygon is done in MATIC.
Thus, transferring 1 unit of the native currency, even at a low transaction cost of 7 Gwei on Ethereum, can go up to $0.62. On the other hand, 66 Gwei on Polygon will only cost $0.000358.
Along with this, the finality time on the networks also plays a crucial role in swaying an investor’s opinion. Polygon’s finality time enables the completion of a transaction in 2.3 seconds. On Ethereum, only six transactions can be completed in one minute.
This is why regardless of the lower base cost, Ethereum will not be able to beat Polygon’s fees despite the latter hiking it.
