Chapter · Master Base
Blobs and cheaper fees
When you pay a fee on Base, most of it covers a hidden cost: posting your batch of data down to Ethereum. Ethereum charges for the space that data takes. For a long time, rollups had to squeeze this data into the same expensive area as regular Ethereum transactions. That put a floor under how low Base fees could go. A change to Ethereum in 2024 gave rollups a cheaper place to put this data, and fees on Base dropped noticeably as a result.
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What this lesson covers
EIP-4844 and blobs
The 2024 upgrade was called EIP-4844, part of Ethereum's Dencun update. It added a new kind of temporary storage called blobs. A blob is a chunk of space made specially for rollup data. It is much cheaper than the old method and it does not need to be stored on Ethereum forever, which is why it costs less. Rollups like Base moved their batch data into blobs, and users saw their fees fall. It is a good example of an Ethereum upgrade helping every Layer 2 on top of it.
What you get asked
What is the biggest hidden cost inside a Base fee?
Rollups must post data to Ethereum, and Ethereum charges for that space. This is the main cost baked into a Base fee.
EIP-4844 added cheap, temporary storage for rollup data called ___.
Blobs are a low cost, short lived place for rollup data. Base moved its batch data into them, which pushed fees down.
In what year did EIP-4844 bring blobs to Ethereum and help lower rollup fees?
EIP-4844 arrived in 2024 as part of the Dencun upgrade. Blobs gave rollups like Base a cheaper way to post data, cutting fees.
Why are blobs cheaper than the old way of posting rollup data?
Blobs hold data only for a short time instead of forever, so they cost far less than the old permanent storage rollups had to use.
The rest of this chapter
Learn how Base works as Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2, from rollups and the OP Stack to gas in ETH, bridging, the sequencer, and staying safe.