Ethereum Scales Like Never Before: But Lighter Faces Big Questions

TLDR

• Ethereum reached a new record of 24,192 transactions per second after including data from the layer 2 network Lighter.
• Lighter processed around 4,000 transactions per second which pushed Ethereum’s overall throughput to its highest level ever.
• The increase followed Ethereum’s recent Pectra and Dencun upgrades that improved scalability across its layer 2 ecosystem.
• Vitalik Buterin confirmed the milestone on X and said that Ethereum is scaling as activity continued to rise through the day.
• Ryan Sean Adams said that layer 2s have added a 200x scaling factor to Ethereum since October through zero-knowledge proofs.

Ethereum (ETH) has achieved a new record in transactions per second (TPS) after integrating data from its high-speed layer 2 platform, Lighter. Data from Growthepie showed Ethereum reached 24,192 transactions per second in the last 24 hours, marking its highest throughput ever recorded. The surge followed Lighter’s inclusion in Ethereum’s ecosystem tracking.

Lighter Drives Ethereum’s Record Throughput

Lighter has rapidly outpaced other networks with its extreme transaction capacity. It processed around 4,000 transactions per second, while Base Chain handled between 100 and 200. This dramatic increase pushed Ethereum’s total TPS beyond all previous benchmarks.

The spike underscores Ethereum’s growing scaling capacity after key network upgrades. The Pectra and Dencun updates introduced improvements enhancing throughput across Ethereum’s layer 2 networks. These developments strengthened Ethereum’s long-term scalability strategy.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin confirmed the achievement through a post on X, writing, “Ethereum is scaling.” Other community members echoed the statement as Ethereum continued recording high TPS numbers through Wednesday. The momentum persisted into the following hours, maintaining community excitement.

Layer 2 Momentum Reshapes Network Dynamics

Ryan Sean Adams, host of the Bankless podcast, credited Lighter’s rise and its zero-knowledge proof technology for Ethereum’s acceleration.

He predicted Ethereum’s ecosystem could reach 100,000 TPS soon.

Lighter’s infrastructure, however, has faced reliability issues since launch. The network experienced several outages, including one on October 28. During that event, Lighter compensated 3,900 wallets with $774,872 in USDC.

Despite outages, Lighter remains central to Ethereum’s new scaling era. The network combines efficiency and zero-knowledge verification to expand Ethereum’s performance ceiling. Its growth has transformed Ethereum’s throughput capabilities within just a few weeks.

Rezso Schmiedt from ₿RRR Capital questioned how Ethereum’s value accrues amid this scaling progress. He said, “Yes, more transactions. But where’s the value accrual? L2s capture fees, not ETH.” His comments reflected concerns over Ethereum’s fee distribution model.

Ethereum’s mainnet now shares activity across multiple layer 2s, which handle most user transactions. While this increases scalability, it has also reduced Ethereum’s share of decentralized exchange volume and fees. Analysts continue monitoring whether mainnet incentives will evolve.

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