Brief Introduction of Ethereum and Optimism

• Ethereum supports smart contracts which serves as the basis for a thriving ecosystem of decentralized applications (DAPP) and decentralized financial systems. Due to Ethereum's capability for smart contracts, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is now the second-largest cryptocurrency (DeFi). Ethereum is a Layer1 solution which is the principal blockchain network, and is responsible for all transactions on the chain.

• Optimism is a separate blockchain that builds on Ethereum and takes on the security guarantees that Ethereum has already established.

  Layer 2 is the connected network, which is responsible for all transactions that occur off-chain.

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The time interval of this dashboard is set to the past 3 months. This is done, so that our analysis is relevant to the recent events and market situations.

Ethereum Vs Optimism

We will examine the user behavior of both blockchains over the same period of time and on the same platforms in order to get meaningful results. Our analysis includes the following:

• Comparison of swaps on SushiSwap

  1. USD volume
  2. Number of swaps
  3. Active users
  4. Average USD volume
  5. Total swapping transaction fee
  6. Average Gas price
  7. Transaction fee per Swapper

• Comparison of general Transactions on chains

  1. Number of transactions
  2. Number of Active Users
  3. Average Tx Fee
  4. Total Tx Fee

• Distribution of users by the number of swaps

• Finally Difference of Both Chains

Swaps Analysis

Users Distribution Based On Number of Swaps

Differential Data

Comparison Across All Transactions For ETH & OP

Overall Transactions Comparison

• As we saw in the swaps section, we can see here as well that Optimism is showing signs of uptrend for both its active users and number of transactions on the chain, while ETH is on a slow demise.
• The small and slow growth of Optimism, has not affected its fees for transactions.

Final Remark

• The dashboards goal is not to just show the huge difference in user behavior between ETH and OP, but to point out the trend they are following both as a blockchain and L1-L2.
• The Layer-2 is difficult for some users to navigate, use, and in some cases trust. But as we saw in the analysis there’s a growth in its usage.
• Ethereum’s delay to complete the Merge over the past years, and the terrible timing of it’s actual implementation and integration, has led many other blockchains to grow. The data shows a slow down growth of the chain in terms of usage specially a month after the Merge.
• The amount of Ethereum has been steadily declining over the past few months. When compared to Optimism, Ethereum has a larger average transaction cost. Even if Ethereum's average costs have decreased over the course of the past few months.

How Many Frequent Swappers?

Data in this dashboard is over a period of 3 months, thus it is important to keep in mind that the low swap count for both network can be justified by the overall crypto market conditions.

• One thing is clear for both chains, a typical user (consisting of over 90%) will swap no more than 5 times per month.
• Every chain has one or two “Crazy Swapper”, who has swapped more than 50 times in a 3 month period. In terms of irregular swappers both network do not differ much.

How Cheap You Ask…? Long live L2!

This section provides data for Transaction fee difference of Eth - OP, as well as other metrics.

• ETH network charges between 20-70 ETH daily more for the swap transactions only. Although the user base and frequency of swaps is much more than OP, the amount still cannot be justified.
• As an example, consider Oct 8th. Number of swaps for ETH is 50x OP. The fee on that day however, is 650 more for ETH than OP!

Daily Analysis of Swaps On SushiSwap |********| ETH - OP

• Most of the charts are logarithmic because of the large difference between the two chains.

• Ethereum has kept its daily swaps over 8000 for most of the days while for Optimism this number oscillates between 60-90 swaps per day for Optimism.

• If we look closely over the past month the gap between the two chains has been slightly increasing and shows signs of a trend. It takes time for general users to get familiar with L2 and its benefits.

• In terms of active users, Ethereum is without a doubt a well-know chain and is widely used. Comparison of the two networks in terms of users would be preposterous. In this case we could look at the trend of growth for the chains. Trends shows a decline in number of users for ETH since late Sep, and there’s a sign of uptrend for Optimism over the same timeline.

• In terms of volume ETH is considered as the second largest crypto currency and the daily swap volume shows that. Over the past few months this volume has been in a downtrend for ETH and uptrend for Optimism. But the amount is still negligible for OP.

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Transaction Fees

In light of these findings, it is clear that there is a considerable distinction between the two systems.

• On the whole, the L1 Ethereum platform has earned higher fees than the L2 Optimism platform. The average transaction fee, or the average amount paid in transaction fees, is the most relevant metric.
• And once more, Ethereum has a higher average transaction fee than Optimism.
• Even if Ethereum's average costs have decreased over the course of the past few months, its historical margin over Optimism remains clear.