Top Ethereum Layer-2 networks (L2s), including Base, Optimism, and Arbitrum, are ready to give up millions of dollars in revenue to make the ecosystem more interconnected. Fragmentation has been a long-standing issue with Ethereum. There are too many L2s that don’t interact smoothly (if at all) and are overly centralized. ‘Based’ and ‘native’ rollups could fix this. In light of the anticipated upgrade, whales have been accumulating $ETH at an unprecedented rate – over $3.8B in two days. Let’s unpack how this news may impact the ecosystem. The Cost of Security: What Are Based & Native Rollups? Core Ethereum developer Justin Drake proposed the concept of based rollups in 2023. Currently, L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism rely on siloed sequencers to process transactions faster at the cost of decentralization. Based rollups would return transaction processing to the Ethereum mainnet, which means they would be validated by all nodes instead of a single sequencer. Likewise, native rollups create optimized environments within the Ethereum base layer as opposed to processing data off-chain and submitting results to the mainnet. These improvements, however, would compromise transaction speeds – decentralized sequencing will increase block times to roughly 12 seconds versus its current 1 second. On top of that, L2s would lose a substantial part of the revenue they generate from gas fees. Still, it appears that L2 executives don’t mind these trade-offs for the sake of the ecosystem’s security and unity. While Ethereum struggled with scalability and decentralization lately, whales are hopeful about the ecosystem’s future. In the past two days, whales bought $3.8B worth of $ETH. This includes Trump’s family venture World Liberty Financial, which spent $20M on Saturday and brought its $ETH portfolio to $193M. Interestingly, the Ethereum Foundation went against the trend and sold $14M worth of $ETH since January 2, including $308K a few hours ago. Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE) Could Lead Ethereum Altcoin Bull Run Ethereum’s upgrade may benefit the price of $ETH and all altcoins in the ecosystem. One new Ethereum-based project that’s been rapidly gaining traction is Wall Street Pepe ($WEPE) , a worthy contender to the original $PEPE (which recently lost ground to Trump’s official meme coin and has shown it isn’t that hard to beat). The $WEPE presale launched in late 2024 and raised over $61M. WEPE’s relatable mission is the most likely reason for such early success. Whales like governments, banks, and wealthy individuals can manipulate the market to their advantage due to the sheer amount of funds they hold. Even worse, they may conspire with insider groups to amplify their influence. $WEPE assembles an army of ‘thirsty degens’ – retail investors who want to level the playing field. Together, $WEPE followers will share tested trading strategies and market insights to crush the bull run. Only 20 days remain to buy $WEPE and join the frog battalion. One $WEPE now costs $0.0003665, which is the final price before the presale ends, and early adopters will claim their tokens. The project sets the bar high with CEX listings in sight, so $WEPE might soar to $0.0013 if it maintains the momentum. Final Remarks Achieving efficiency, decentralization, and interoperability all at once is no easy task. Ethereum now prioritizes the latter two, and only time will tell whether it’s the right decision. Still, whale activity shows that the community approves of this strategy. Positive developments are likely to benefit the entire ecosystem, including early-stage altcoins like $WEPE . Meanwhile, we remind you to do your due diligence. Don’t fall victim to FOMO and FUD – keep a cool head and diversify your investments.
