Analysis: Ethereum will "sacrifice" over $100 million in subsidies for ecosystem expansion in 2025.

PANews reported on January 1st, citing CryptoSlate, that Ethereum's network performed strongly in 2025, processing record transaction volumes and dominating the DeFi market (mainnet TVL accounting for 64%). However, the price of ETH fell 10% throughout the year to below $3,000, decoupling from network activity. This was due to Ethereum proactively reducing transaction fees through technical upgrades to promote the growth of the L2 network and the expansion of the entire ecosystem, resulting in a significant drop in mainnet revenue. Total L2 revenue decreased by 53% to $129 million in 2025, but fees paid to the mainnet plummeted to only $10 million, allowing L2 operators to retain approximately $119 million in profit. This means that the Ethereum mainnet "sacrificed" over $100 million in potential revenue (a decrease of approximately $103 million compared to 2024) to subsidize ecosystem growth.