When I look at Ethereum now, I don’t think the strongest bet is “cheap fees on L1” anymore. That was the old argument, and honestly it created the wrong expectation. Ethereum seems to be moving toward something quieter but more important: becoming the trustable settlement layer for the whole L2 economy.
The core idea is simple. Rollups can compete on speed, UX, apps, and lower fees, but they still need a credible base layer for final settlement, data availability, and security. Fusaka went live on December 3, 2025, and PeerDAS is a big part of that shift because it increases data availability capacity for L2s without forcing every validator to download all blob data. That matters because Ethereum is trying to scale rollups while protecting decentralization, not just chasing temporary fee reductions. (ethereum.org)
The harder question is value capture. If users mostly live on Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, zkSync or other L2s, ETH still needs demand from blob fees, settlement, staking security, liquidity, and developer trust. That is not guaranteed. Cheaper L2s can grow activity, but Ethereum must prove that this activity keeps paying for Ethereum security over time.
So I’ll be watching boring signals: blob demand, L2 transaction growth, validator health, bridge risk, app retention, and whether users stay when incentives fade. Ethereum’s future may not be “cheapest chain wins.” It may be whether the market still pays for the most credible settlement layer underneath everything.