Ethereum continues cementing its role as the settlement and data availability backbone for crypto. The numbers tell the story: TVL surged past $97.5B while monthly transaction volumes reached new peaks. Yet beneath the surface, day-to-day activity keeps flowing toward Layer 2 solutions—a trend that accelerated with the Pectra upgrade. The payoff? Mainnet gas fees plummeted to around $0.19, signaling a strategic shift where Ethereum anchors security while L2s handle the traffic.