The average gas fee for Ethereum has plummeted by 95% in the year following the Dencun upgrade, one of the most pivotal enhancements to the Ethereum network.
The rollout occurred on March 13, 2024, merging the Cancun upgrade on the execution layer with the Deneb upgrade on the consensus layer. This upgrade also brought in nine Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).
The main aim was to improve Ethereum’s scalability and lower transaction expenses for layer-2 networks. Data shows that Ethereum’s average gas fee has decreased from 72 gwei in 2024 to just 2.7 gwei by March 12, 2025.
Last year, the average cost of a swap for users was $86 in fees, while non-fungible token transactions averaged $145 in gas. At the time this was written, existing data indicated that an average swap would now cost $0.39, with an NFT sale averaging $0.65.
Ethereum average gas fee.
Ether price has fallen 53% since the Dencun Upgrade
Despite the significant decrease in gas fees, Ether (ETH) has seen its price drop by 53% since the Dencun upgrade.
At the time of the upgrade in March 2024, ETH was trading above $4,070, but by March 13, 2025, it had dropped to around $1,891, based on data from CoinGecko.
Ether’s 1-year price chart.
In a statement, Dominik Harz, co-founder of the hybrid layer-2 project Build on Bitcoin (BOB), remarked that Ethereum has “underperformed” of late:
“Monday’s price drop wiped out all DeFi TVL gains since Trump’s election. With Solana’s memecoin boom and Ethereum’s challenging past months, it’s evident that the industry is on the lookout for a new, more sustainable and secure frontier for DeFi.”
Related: More than 50% of validators signal to increase ETH gas limit
Upcoming Pectra upgrade faces challenges
On March 5, Ethereum’s next significant upgrade, Pectra, launched on its final testnet, Sepolia. However, issues arose with error messages and empty blocks being generated.
Ethereum developer Marius van der Wijden confirmed that a fix had been implemented, but an unidentified user later caused a recurrence of the same error, resulting in additional complications. The development team has since stabilized the testnet and successfully resumed transaction processing.
Harz noted that while these complications in the testnet are “disrupting the mainnet launch,” they are not the most pressing issues facing Ethereum. He asserted that once Pectra is operational, it will double the data capacity for layer-2 solutions, lower costs, and enhance execution capability.
“While that’s a positive development, the reality is that Ethereum is quickly losing its status as the preferred chain for developers, and Pectra won’t resolve its deeper challenges,” Harz added.
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