TLDR
Arbitrum (ARB) and Polygon (MATIC) led Layer 2 fee revenue this week, posting increases while most networks weekly revenue fell per a Blockworks market update (weekly network revenue review).
- Higher activity with lower fees was driven by recent scaling (PeerDAS, higher gas limits) per a Cointelegraph analysis.
- Base showed contraction in transactions and fees in December, so it was not a weekly fee leader per the same analysis.
- Weekly network revenue dropped to $26.4M overall, yet Arbitrum and Polygon rose per the Blockworks review.
Deep Dive
1. Leaders This Week
Arbitrum and Polygon saw week-over-week revenue increases while broader network revenue declined.
- The review notes weekly network revenue fell to $26.4M, but Arbitrum was up (+37%) and Polygon up (+50%) in the period, signaling leadership among L2s in fee generation per the Blockworks market update.
- Other networks (for example Ethereum and Tron) saw declines that week, reinforcing the outperformance of Arbitrum and Polygon in fee revenue per the same update.
2. Why Fees Moved
Scaling improvements reduced average fees even as activity rose, making fee leadership reflect revenue resilience rather than fee spikes.
- Major networks saw increased transactions with sharply lower fee revenue, attributed to upgrades like PeerDAS for rollup data availability and a higher Ethereum block gas limit per a Cointelegraph analysis.
- The analysis specifically highlights Arbitrums rollup batching and compressed calldata, which dampens fee volatility while sustaining throughput per the same analysis.
3. Who Did Not Lead
Some L2s faced contractions, pointing to uneven fee dynamics across rollups.
- Bases transactions fell 75% with fees down 63% in December, indicating it was not a weekly fee leader per the Cointelegraph analysis.
If you are tracking L2 monetization, focus on Arbitrum and Polygon for near?term fee resilience, and monitor whether Bases activity normalizes as scaling and incentives evolve.
Conclusion
On this setup, Arbitrum and Polygon led L2 fee revenue this week while overall network revenue softened. The driver is scaling upgrades that push activity higher and fees lower, so leaders are those sustaining revenue despite cheaper transactions. Confidence: moderate because the ranking comes from one weekly review and fee definitions vary by network; a fast check is to watch next weeks network revenue in the Blockworks update.
