Edward Felten said Ethereum L2s need responsive pricing to scale, as Arbitrum’s new model tests an alternative to EIP-1559-style fee swings. Ethereum layer-2 networks need “responsive pricing” to scale to billions of users and reduce the fee swings that still accompany congestion, Offchain Labs co-founder Edward Felten said during a keynote at EthCC 2026. Ethereum’s EIP-1559 upgrade launched in August 2021, as part of the London hard fork. It reformed the Ethereum fee market by modifying the gas fee limit and introduced a feature that burns part of the transaction fees, removing them permanently from circulation. Felten said gas-price swings are still the main mechanism for protecting networks from being overrun during periods of heavy demand, even though that produces the kind of fee volatility mainstream users tend to reject. Read more
Offchain Labs increases its ARB holdings, signaling long-term conviction in Arbitrum as governance token prices slump and layer-2 competition intensifies. Offchain Labs, the primary developer behind Arbitrum, has purchased additional ARB tokens, signaling long-term conviction in the network at a time when sentiment across the sector has weakened, and governance token prices have faced sustained pressure. In a post on X this week, Offchain Labs said it remains “committed to growing the Arbitrum ecosystem in a meaningful way,” adding that it has increased its direct exposure to Arbitrum (ARB) under an approved purchase plan. The development company said the move reflects its intention to continue “doubling down on the development of Arbitrum in all respects.” Read more