How do you measure whether Ethereum is scaling through L2s?

Two metrics together: **transaction count** and **throughput (Mgas/s)**. Transaction count is what users feel — more transactions per day means more activity. Throughput is the harder-to-game measure — gas per second is the actual compute the chain processes, normalized so chains with different gas-per-tx profiles can be compared apples-to-apples. If both numbers are growing on L2s while Ethereum mainnet is flat or shrinking, the ecosystem is scaling via L2s — which is exactly what the data on this page shows.

How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet daily?

On the latest completed UTC day (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **8.20× (L2s 19.40M vs Ethereum 2.37M)**. That ratio is the daily L2 ecosystem total divided by Ethereum mainnet alone.

How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet weekly?

Over the most recent completed week (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **8.80× (L2s 138.07M vs Ethereum 15.69M)**.

How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet monthly?

Over the most recent completed month (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **7.47× (L2s 544.10M vs Ethereum 72.83M)**.

How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet daily?

On the latest completed UTC day (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **20.1× (L2s 50.4 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.51 Mgas/s)** of throughput. Throughput is gas per second — the most direct measure of how much real onchain work a chain is doing.

How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet weekly?

Over the most recent completed week (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **19.5× (L2s 49.0 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s)** of throughput.

How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet monthly?

Over the most recent completed month (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **20.2× (L2s 50.9 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s)** of throughput.

Does this mean Ethereum mainnet activity is shrinking?

No. Ethereum mainnet transaction count and throughput are roughly flat over the last year — L2 growth is additive, not at Ethereum's expense. What's changed is the composition: routine transactions (swaps, transfers, mints) have moved to L2s, leaving mainnet to handle higher-value or settlement-critical activity. Mainnet is still the security and settlement layer that every L2 depends on.

Why is throughput a better measure than transaction count?

Because transaction count can be gamed by a chain that processes many tiny transactions (e.g. memecoin trading, airdrop farming). Throughput measures gas-per-second — gas is paid in proportion to a transaction's computational complexity, so the metric naturally weighs complex transactions higher than trivial ones. A chain processing 1,000 simple transfers per second has the same transaction count as a chain processing 1,000 DEX swaps per second, but the latter has higher throughput because each swap consumes more gas.

Is this comparing all L2s combined to mainnet, or per-L2?

All L2s combined ("the L2 ecosystem") vs Ethereum mainnet alone. We sum across every L2 in growthepie's curated universe to produce the L2 totals; mainnet is its own row. So the ratios you see here are "the L2 ecosystem produces X times more than mainnet" — not "any single L2 produces X times more than mainnet". For per-L2 rankings, see [/answers/most-used-ethereum-l2](/answers/most-used-ethereum-l2).

Is Polygon PoS counted as an L2 here?

No. Polygon PoS is a sidechain with its own validator set and is excluded from the L2 ecosystem totals on this page, matching the rest of the answer pages on growthepie. Polygon zkEVM is a ZK rollup and is included.

Where does this answer come from?

Both Ethereum mainnet and L2 ecosystem values come from growthepie's per-chain timeseries endpoints (`/v1/metrics/chains/{chain}/txcount.json` and `/v1/metrics/chains/{chain}/throughput.json`). For Ethereum mainnet the chain key is `ethereum`; for the L2 ecosystem aggregate the helper first tries the `all_l2s` aggregate chain key and falls back to summing every L2 in the curated universe if that endpoint is unreachable. L2 membership comes from `master.json` (chains where `bucket !== "Layer 1"` and `chain_type` indicates an Ethereum rollup or validium). Sidechain exclusions on 2026-05-27 UTC: Polygon PoS. No editorial overrides.

Why aren't the L2 transaction counts here the same as the cumulative number on /answers/ethereum-l2-transaction-count?

Different questions, different aggregations. The cumulative answer page shows the **sum of every day** since 2021 ("all-time"). This page compares L2 vs mainnet for a single period at a time (daily / weekly / monthly), so the L2 numbers here are per-window totals, not cumulative. The daily L2 figure on both pages should match (both use the most recent completed day).

Where can I see this comparison visually?

growthepie's [transaction count dashboard](https://www.growthepie.com/fundamentals/transaction-count) and [throughput dashboard](https://www.growthepie.com/fundamentals/throughput) both let you overlay the `all_l2s` aggregate and `ethereum` series on the same chart for any timespan. The visual divergence between the two lines is the clearest answer to "is Ethereum scaling through L2s".

How is "Ethereum L2" defined here?

An Ethereum Layer 2 is a chain that derives security from Ethereum by posting transaction data and/or state to Ethereum mainnet. This includes optimistic rollups, ZK rollups, and Validiums. Sidechains (independent validator sets, like Polygon PoS) are excluded.

Is Ethereum scaling through L2s?

By Matthias Seidl, Co-founder & Data Lead — growthepie.

Yes — and here's by how much. Daily / weekly / monthly comparison of L2 ecosystem vs Ethereum mainnet on transactions and throughput.

Yes. Data 2026-05-27 UTC: L2s produce 8.20× more transactions than Ethereum mainnet daily (19.40M vs 2.37M), and 20.1× more throughput daily (50.4 Mgas/s vs 2.51 Mgas/s). Weekly and monthly windows show the same direction. Live leaderboards: growthepie.com/fundamentals/throughput.

Read on growthepie · Updated daily (last refresh: 2026-05-27)

Updated daily — every ratio on this page is recomputed from growthepie's public per-chain timeseries. Daily uses the latest completed UTC day; weekly and monthly use the most recent completed period.

Transactions: L2 ecosystem vs Ethereum mainnet

As of 2026-05-27 UTC, Ethereum L2s collectively produce 8.20× more transactions than mainnet daily (19.40M vs 2.37M), 8.80× more weekly (138.07M vs 15.69M), and 7.47× more monthly (544.10M vs 72.83M).

Daily (2026-05-27): 8.20× (L2s 19.40M vs Ethereum 2.37M).
Weekly: 8.80× (L2s 138.07M vs Ethereum 15.69M).
Monthly: 7.47× (L2s 544.10M vs Ethereum 72.83M).

Throughput: L2 ecosystem vs Ethereum mainnet

As of 2026-05-27 UTC, Ethereum L2s collectively produce 20.1× more throughput than mainnet daily (50.4 Mgas/s vs 2.51 Mgas/s), 19.5× more weekly (49.0 Mgas/s vs 2.52 Mgas/s), and 20.2× more monthly (50.9 Mgas/s vs 2.52 Mgas/s).

Daily (2026-05-27): 20.1× (L2s 50.4 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.51 Mgas/s).
Weekly: 19.5× (L2s 49.0 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s).
Monthly: 20.2× (L2s 50.9 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s).

How to read these ratios

The L2 / L1 ratio is the L2 ecosystem total divided by Ethereum mainnet alone. A ratio of "8×" means the L2 ecosystem produces eight times as many transactions (or eight times as much throughput) as Ethereum mainnet does on its own. This is the clearest single answer to "is Ethereum scaling through L2s" — if the ratio is well above 1 and growing, the answer is yes. If it were near 1 or declining, the answer would be no. The numbers above speak for themselves.

A few caveats worth keeping in mind:

L2 transaction count is partly a function of cheaper fees. Lower per-transaction cost makes more micro-transactions economic, which inflates raw count. Throughput is more robust to this effect because gas is charged per computational unit.
Throughput is gas per second, not transactions per second. A chain processing 1,000 simple transfers per second has the same TPS as a chain processing 1,000 swaps per second, but the latter has much higher throughput.
Mainnet isn't shrinking, L2 growth is additive. Ethereum mainnet transaction count and throughput are roughly flat over the last year. The L2 ecosystem grew alongside, not at mainnet's expense.

Methodology and data sources

How the answer is derived (transparent methodology):

Pull the master chain catalogue to enumerate the curated L2 universe (chains where bucket !== "Layer 1", deployment === "PROD", not on the explicit non-L2 list).
Fetch Ethereum mainnet values from /v1/metrics/chains/ethereum/txcount.json and /v1/metrics/chains/ethereum/throughput.json — the per-chain endpoint exposes period-native daily / weekly / monthly buckets.
Fetch the L2 ecosystem aggregate from /v1/metrics/chains/alll2s/{metric}.json. If that endpoint is unreachable, fall back to fetching every L2 in the curated universe and summing per-period values.
For each (metric, period) pair, compute the L2 / L1 ratio as L2total / ethereum. A ratio greater than 1 means L2s produce more of that metric than mainnet over the same window.

All values shown on this page were generated on 2026-05-27 UTC:

Master chain list (with bucket / chaintype classification): https://api.growthepie.com/v1/master.json
Ethereum mainnet transactions: https://api.growthepie.com/v1/metrics/chains/ethereum/txcount.json
Ethereum mainnet throughput: https://api.growthepie.com/v1/metrics/chains/ethereum/throughput.json
L2 ecosystem aggregate transactions: https://api.growthepie.com/v1/metrics/chains/alll2s/txcount.json
L2 ecosystem aggregate throughput: https://api.growthepie.com/v1/metrics/chains/alll2s/throughput.json

Data is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Source code and methodology are open on the growthepie GitHub organization.

Funding disclosure. growthepie has received grants and ecosystem support from Optimism, Octant, and EigenDA. Some supporters operate L2 chains, but ratios on this page are computed mechanically from public API data — no supporter receives any preferential treatment. Full list of supporters and current funding rounds: growthepie.com/donate.

Cross-check this answer. Independent sources for the L2-vs-mainnet comparison include L2BEAT (TVL + stage classification + chain inclusion list), Etherscan (mainnet-only metrics), and the chains' own block explorers (per-L2 metrics). Methodologies differ — L2BEAT tracks TVL primarily; growthepie tracks usage (txs, throughput). When ratios disagree it's usually because the underlying chain inclusion lists differ.

Which chains are included?

The L2 universe used for the per-chain-sum fallback (and for context throughout this page) is the same 25-chain set used by the other L2 answer pages on growthepie, computed automatically from master.json:

arbitrum, arbitrumnova, base, celo, fraxtal, gravity, ink, linea, lisk, loopring, manta, mantle, megaeth, metis, mode, optimism, plume, ronin, scroll, soneium, starknet, taiko, unichain, worldchain, zksyncera.

What we exclude and why:

Polygon PoS — a sidechain with its own validator set, not a Layer 2.
Aggregate keys (multiple) — not an individual chain. The alll2s aggregate is used as the primary L2 ecosystem source but not as an L2 itself.

Leaderboard tables

Per-period totals and L2/L1 ratio as of 2026-05-27 UTC.
Period	L2 ecosystem	Ethereum mainnet	L2 / L1
Daily	19.40M	2.37M	8.20×
Weekly	138.07M	15.69M	8.80×
Monthly	544.10M	72.83M	7.47×

Per-period totals and L2/L1 ratio as of 2026-05-27 UTC.
Period	L2 ecosystem	Ethereum mainnet	L2 / L1
Daily	50.4 Mgas/s	2.51 Mgas/s	20.1×
Weekly	49.0 Mgas/s	2.52 Mgas/s	19.5×
Monthly	50.9 Mgas/s	2.52 Mgas/s	20.2×

Frequently asked questions

Is Ethereum scaling through L2s?: **Yes.** Yes. As of 2026-05-27 UTC, Ethereum L2s collectively process **8.20× more transactions** and **20.1× more throughput (gas/s)** than Ethereum mainnet alone — every day. The gap holds across weekly and monthly windows too. See the per-period breakdown below for transaction count and throughput. Live leaderboards: [growthepie.com/fundamentals/throughput](https://www.growthepie.com/fundamentals/throughput).
How do you measure whether Ethereum is scaling through L2s?: Two metrics together: **transaction count** and **throughput (Mgas/s)**. Transaction count is what users feel — more transactions per day means more activity. Throughput is the harder-to-game measure — gas per second is the actual compute the chain processes, normalized so chains with different gas-per-tx profiles can be compared apples-to-apples. If both numbers are growing on L2s while Ethereum mainnet is flat or shrinking, the ecosystem is scaling via L2s — which is exactly what the data on this page shows.
How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet daily?: On the latest completed UTC day (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **8.20× (L2s 19.40M vs Ethereum 2.37M)**. That ratio is the daily L2 ecosystem total divided by Ethereum mainnet alone.
How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet weekly?: Over the most recent completed week (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **8.80× (L2s 138.07M vs Ethereum 15.69M)**.
How many more transactions do L2s process than Ethereum mainnet monthly?: Over the most recent completed month (data 2026-05-27), L2s produced **7.47× (L2s 544.10M vs Ethereum 72.83M)**.
How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet daily?: On the latest completed UTC day (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **20.1× (L2s 50.4 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.51 Mgas/s)** of throughput. Throughput is gas per second — the most direct measure of how much real onchain work a chain is doing.
How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet weekly?: Over the most recent completed week (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **19.5× (L2s 49.0 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s)** of throughput.
How much more throughput do L2s have than Ethereum mainnet monthly?: Over the most recent completed month (data 2026-05-27), L2s collectively produced **20.2× (L2s 50.9 Mgas/s vs Ethereum 2.52 Mgas/s)** of throughput.
Does this mean Ethereum mainnet activity is shrinking?: No. Ethereum mainnet transaction count and throughput are roughly flat over the last year — L2 growth is additive, not at Ethereum's expense. What's changed is the composition: routine transactions (swaps, transfers, mints) have moved to L2s, leaving mainnet to handle higher-value or settlement-critical activity. Mainnet is still the security and settlement layer that every L2 depends on.
Why is throughput a better measure than transaction count?: Because transaction count can be gamed by a chain that processes many tiny transactions (e.g. memecoin trading, airdrop farming). Throughput measures gas-per-second — gas is paid in proportion to a transaction's computational complexity, so the metric naturally weighs complex transactions higher than trivial ones. A chain processing 1,000 simple transfers per second has the same transaction count as a chain processing 1,000 DEX swaps per second, but the latter has higher throughput because each swap consumes more gas.
Is this comparing all L2s combined to mainnet, or per-L2?: All L2s combined ("the L2 ecosystem") vs Ethereum mainnet alone. We sum across every L2 in growthepie's curated universe to produce the L2 totals; mainnet is its own row. So the ratios you see here are "the L2 ecosystem produces X times more than mainnet" — not "any single L2 produces X times more than mainnet". For per-L2 rankings, see [/answers/most-used-ethereum-l2](/answers/most-used-ethereum-l2).
Is Polygon PoS counted as an L2 here?: No. Polygon PoS is a sidechain with its own validator set and is excluded from the L2 ecosystem totals on this page, matching the rest of the answer pages on growthepie. Polygon zkEVM is a ZK rollup and is included.
How many L2s are included?: 25 chains. The full list (computed on 2026-05-27 UTC from growthepie's master chain catalogue) is: arbitrum, arbitrum_nova, base, celo, fraxtal, gravity, ink, linea, lisk, loopring, manta, mantle, megaeth, metis, mode, optimism, plume, ronin, scroll, soneium, starknet, taiko, unichain, worldchain, zksync_era.
Where does this answer come from?: Both Ethereum mainnet and L2 ecosystem values come from growthepie's per-chain timeseries endpoints (`/v1/metrics/chains/{chain}/txcount.json` and `/v1/metrics/chains/{chain}/throughput.json`). For Ethereum mainnet the chain key is `ethereum`; for the L2 ecosystem aggregate the helper first tries the `all_l2s` aggregate chain key and falls back to summing every L2 in the curated universe if that endpoint is unreachable. L2 membership comes from `master.json` (chains where `bucket !== "Layer 1"` and `chain_type` indicates an Ethereum rollup or validium). Sidechain exclusions on 2026-05-27 UTC: Polygon PoS. No editorial overrides.
Why aren't the L2 transaction counts here the same as the cumulative number on /answers/ethereum-l2-transaction-count?: Different questions, different aggregations. The cumulative answer page shows the **sum of every day** since 2021 ("all-time"). This page compares L2 vs mainnet for a single period at a time (daily / weekly / monthly), so the L2 numbers here are per-window totals, not cumulative. The daily L2 figure on both pages should match (both use the most recent completed day).
Where can I see this comparison visually?: growthepie's [transaction count dashboard](https://www.growthepie.com/fundamentals/transaction-count) and [throughput dashboard](https://www.growthepie.com/fundamentals/throughput) both let you overlay the `all_l2s` aggregate and `ethereum` series on the same chart for any timespan. The visual divergence between the two lines is the clearest answer to "is Ethereum scaling through L2s".
How is "Ethereum L2" defined here?: An Ethereum Layer 2 is a chain that derives security from Ethereum by posting transaction data and/or state to Ethereum mainnet. This includes optimistic rollups, ZK rollups, and Validiums. Sidechains (independent validator sets, like Polygon PoS) are excluded.