Ethereum Throughput Skyrockets to 24,192 TPS Following Pectra Upgrade and Lighter L2 Integration

The Ethereum ecosystem has registered an unprecedented peak in transactional throughput, successfully processing 24,192 transactions per second (TPS). This monumental achievement is directly attributable to the successful integration of data stemming from the Layer 2 (L2) network known as Lighter. This integration was made possible following the activation of the Pectra hard fork on May 7, 2025. This milestone represents a critical juncture in the network’s long-term development strategy, which aims to definitively overcome the scalability constraints that have historically hampered widespread adoption of the technology.

The Pectra upgrade, a combination of the Prague and Electra initiatives, was specifically engineered to fundamentally enhance Ethereum’s scaling capabilities. A key component of this effort involved doubling the capacity allocated for data "blobs," which are essential resources utilized by L2 scaling solutions. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin previously confirmed that this specific update effectively "doubles the throughput of Layer 2 networks." While the underlying Ethereum base layer (L1) typically handles a modest 100 to 200 operations per second, L2 solutions are the primary drivers contributing to the overall performance surge. Notably, the Lighter network, which went live in early October 2025, independently accounted for more than 4,000 TPS of the recorded peak.

Industry analysts are taking note of this dramatic expansion. Ryan Sean Adams of Bankless highlighted that L2 solutions have introduced a "200-fold scaling factor" to Ethereum since October, a massive leap largely credited to advancements in zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs). Looking ahead, projections indicate that as L2 adoption accelerates further, the network speed could potentially approach 100,000 TPS. Furthermore, technical improvements introduced within Pectra, such as EIP-7702, which permits users to pay gas fees using ERC-20 tokens, are simultaneously opening up new avenues for enhanced user convenience and accessibility.

However, this rapid acceleration in performance has simultaneously exposed underlying vulnerabilities related to infrastructure resilience. The Lighter network, positioned as a direct competitor to Hyperliquid, encountered significant technical difficulties in late October. The network suffered a half-hour system outage, during which it failed to process blocks. This failure was triggered by automated bots that caused a sudden, sharp price spike in the HYPE token, rocketing its value from $47 to $98 within a single minute. Demonstrating accountability, the Lighter team subsequently compensated affected users to the tune of $774,872 in USDC.

This incident mirrors a similar reliability challenge faced by the decentralized exchange Aster in late September, where the XPL price surged from $1.3 to $4 due to an error within a perpetual contract mechanism. These events underscore the critical necessity of fortifying operational reliability alongside the drive for increased throughput. Despite these growing pains, the achieved benchmark of 24,192 TPS sends a clear signal: the chosen development path, centered on modularity and maximizing Layer 2 capabilities, is unlocking the immense potential for powerful and harmonious growth across the entire Ethereum ecosystem.