Ethereum Blob Fees Surge Briefly—Scroll Airdrop Behind the Spike

Ethereum blob fees saw a sudden surge, reaching $4.52, and analysts point to the Scroll airdrop as the reason behind this market frenzy.

Blob Fees Jump From Zero to $4

The excitement over airdrop claims for the Scroll Ethereum layer-2 network briefly pushed blob fees to $4.52. This marks the third time blob fees have surged since Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March.

The analyst known by the pseudonym Hildobby noted that users claiming the Scroll airdrop disrupted the blob market, making it no longer free. The Scroll project's SCR token was recently listed on Binance, with the airdrop taking place on October 22.

As shown in the chart, blob fees spiked to a four-month high on October 22. This significant increase in blob fees had previously happened twice—once in July due to increased L2 activity, and again on March 27, following the launch of Blobscriptions.

Introduction of Blobs and Their Impact

Blobs were introduced as part of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in March. The primary goal of this upgrade was to reduce transaction costs on Ethereum’s layer-2 networks. Following the update, gas fees dropped sharply, while the total value of daily collected fees also fell, despite a consistent number of daily transactions.

To demonstrate the cost-efficiency of blobs, developer Dan Cline inscribed the entire script of the "Bee" movie on Ethereum’s mainnet for just $14, showcasing the use of blobs as a temporary data storage solution.

Scalability Concerns and Upcoming Proposals

On September 27, Vitalik Buterin emphasized that the maximum number of blobs available per block is nearing full capacity, which could soon hinder the network's scalability. A few weeks later, Ethereum developers proposed a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) aimed at increasing the current maximum number of blobs available per block.

EIP-7742 introduces a mechanism to dynamically adjust gas fee targets and maximum values, as explained by Christine Kim, Vice President of Research at Galaxy Digital. Additionally, the upcoming Pectra upgrade will include changes designed to improve scalability, gas limits, and slot durations.