As L1s evolve, the pressure on decentralization naturally increases.
No doubt, that’s the main reason “scalability” has become a top priority for developers, as chains compete to handle more data without compromising security. To make that work, adding an extra layer becomes essential.
For Ethereum [ETH], this comes through L2s like Arbitrum [ARB], which developers use to build dApps without dealing with high fees. Against this backdrop, Ethereum’s latest BPO fork stands out as a meaningful upgrade.
According to the official announcement, the fork raised the blob limit from 15 to 21, giving Ethereum-based L2s more room to post data each block. In simple terms, this means better scalability and lower costs for L2 users.
Why does this matter? L2s don’t just scale Ethereum. Instead, they also feed into Ethereum’s economic model. Put simply, as L2 usage grows, a portion of the fees they pay for settlement flows back to the Ethereum mainnet.
In that sense, this upgrade isn’t just a scaling change.
Instead, it reinforces Ethereum’s strategy of pushing activity to L2s while still capturing value at the base layer. More importantly, looking at on-chain activity, this latest fork really does feel like a strategic masterstroke.
Scaling L2s without sacrificing Ethereum’s economics
The short-term impact of Ethereum’s 2025 upgrades was a bit bearish.
Take the fee structure, for example: The back-to-back upgrades lowered network fees, which hit ETH’s revenue by around $100 million, as L2 earnings dropped roughly 53%. And yet, Ethereum keeps rolling out forks.
The key reason? Network usage. As the chart below shows, L1 application TVL has now crossed $300 billion, showing that activity and adoption are still growing, offsetting lost revenue and keeping devs incentivized.
Notably, this is where the recent BPO fork comes in.
With Ethereum already seeing solid usage, the higher blob limit gives L2s more space to post data per block, supporting even more activity. The result? More data processed means Ethereum can recover lost revenue.
In short, this is a smart strategic move: it lets L2s scale without hurting Ethereum’s economic model, creating a strong feedback loop. More data leads to more revenue, which in turn drives even more developer activity.
Hence, this puts Ethereum’s fundamentals front and center for this cycle.
Final Thoughts
- Raising the blob limit from 15 to 21 gives ETH-based L2s more room per block, improving scalability and supporting higher on-chain activity.
- Increased L2 usage feeds revenue back to ETH’s base layer, positioning ETH strongly for 2026.
