Ethereum: gas fees drop by 95% after the Dencun update

The Ethereum ecosystem has experienced a significant reduction in gas fees, with a decrease reaching 95% in the year following the introduction of the Dencun update.

This result highlights the success of the changes made to the network to improve scalability and accessibility, lowering transaction costs on Layer-2 solutions.

Summary

• Gas fees drastically reduced after the Dencun update on Ethereum
• The price of Ether crashes by 53%
• Ethereum between innovation and market pressures

Gas fees drastically reduced after the Dencun update on Ethereum

The Dencun update, implemented on March 13, 2024, combined two important developments: Cancun, related to the execution layer, and Deneb, focused on the consensus layer.

Furthermore, it introduced nine Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP), which improved various aspects of the network’s infrastructure.

One of the main goals of the update was to lower transaction fees, a historical obstacle for the large-scale adoption of the blockchain.

The data from YCharts shows that the average gas fee has dropped from 72 gwei in March 2024 to the current 2.7 gwei, a change that has made Ethereum more competitive in the cryptocurrency landscape.

Before the update, the fees for a swap on Ethereum averaged around 86 dollars, while the sale of an NFT involved average costs of 145 dollars.

However, the most recent data from Etherscan demonstrate how the costs are significantly more contained today:

• – 0.39 dollars per swap
• – 0.65 dollars for the sale of an NFT

This substantial reduction is promoting greater adoption of the blockchain, making it more accessible even to users with smaller budgets.

The price of Ether crashes by 53%

Despite the significant drop in gas fees, the value of Ether (ETH) has experienced a sharp decline over the course of the year. From March 2024 to March 2025, the price fell from 4,070 dollars to about 1,900 dollars, marking a 53% drop.

Dominik Harz, co-founder of Build on Bitcoin (BOB), commented on the situation by highlighting how Ethereum has underperformed during this period.

It highlighted that between the explosion of memecoins on Solana and the market volatility, the sector is seeking a new, more sustainable and secure paradigm for decentralized finance (DeFi).

The next major network upgrade, Pectra, was recently activated on the Sepolia testnet. However, the developers initially encountered error messages and empty mined blocks.

The developer Marius van der Wijden clarified that, once these technical issues are resolved, Pectra will bring important improvements to the Ethereum network. In particular:

• – Increase in data space for Layer-2 solutions
• – Reduction of transaction costs
• – Greater execution capacity

Despite the progress, Van der Wijden warned that Ethereum is losing ground as the go-to blockchain for developers. He emphasized that Pectra will not be a definitive solution, but just another step in the network’s optimization journey.

Ethereum between innovation and market pressures

Although the Dencun update has significantly improved the network’s efficiency, the collapse of the Ether price and the difficulties in maintaining a dominant position represent critical challenges for Ethereum.

The next year will be crucial to assess the overall impact of these updates and the future of the blockchain ecosystem.

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