Ethereum’s layer-2 scaling solutions, or “rollups,” have reported over 90% profit margins in the past year, according to data resource GrowThePie.
As of Jan. 20, networks such as Base, Arbitrum One, Polygon PoS, and more than a dozen other Ethereum layer-2 chains recorded an average 94.2% increase in profits from the economic activity tied to their networks.
These chains process transactions off of Ethereum’s main blockchain, bundle them together, and then settle them back on Ethereum. Because they charge users transaction fees while paying relatively low settlement costs to Ethereum, most of that revenue flows directly to profit, resulting in unusually high margins compared with layer-1 blockchains.
By contrast, Ethereum’s base layer recorded a margin of roughly −97.6% over the same period.
Ethereum’s revenue appears low because most user transactions no longer take place directly on the base layer. Instead, activity has shifted to layer-2 networks, which capture execution fees while Ethereum primarily earns smaller settlement fees from batching and data availability.
Ethereum is The Best Place to Do Business: Analyst
Matze, the co-founder of GrowThePie called Ethereum “the best place to do business” following the uplifting L2 profit margin data.
In simple terms, Ethereum’s structure favors builders and users. That is even if the base layer itself does not maximize short-term revenue.
Most transaction activity now happens on rollups, which keep costs low while relying on Ethereum for final settlement and security. That setup allows applications to scale cheaply without sacrificing trust, making Ethereum a practical environment for real economic activity rather than speculative bursts.
The trend shows up in user data. Ethereum just recorded its largest wave of first-time users on record, according to Glassnode.
The surge suggests demand has broadened beyond the ICO-era playbook. Growth in stablecoins, tracked by GrowThePie, and rising real-world asset usage, measured by RWA.xyz, point to sustained, utility-driven on-chain activity rather than one-off speculation.
