Svmuu News Offchain Labs co-founder Edward Felten stated at EthCC 2026 that Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) networks need to introduce "responsive pricing" to support billions of users and reduce the volatility in transaction fees caused by network congestion.
Felten pointed out that although EIP-1559 reformed the fee mechanism, current Gas price fluctuations remain the primary means of preventing network overload, and this volatility is detrimental to mainstream user adoption. Responsive pricing could process more transactions at lower Gas prices without exceeding the network's capacity.
Unstable transaction fees have long been considered a key obstacle to mass adoption, especially when compared to the more predictable cost structures in traditional financial systems. The industry's focus has shifted from simply increasing throughput to how to make fees more predictable while accurately reflecting congestion costs. Notably, Arbitrum One took the lead in introducing a dynamic pricing mechanism in January of this year, serving as an initial practical exploration in balancing fee stability with network security. (Cointelegraph)