Ethereum remains the dominant environment for decentralized finance, hosting over half of all active DeFi protocols. Platforms like Uniswap, Aave, and Lido define the space but continue to face practical limits. Average transaction fees in 2025 fluctuate between $3 and $6 depending on network congestion, while throughput remains near 15 transactions per second (TPS). Even Layer-2 rollups like Arbitrum and Optimism reduce but do not eliminate gas variability.
These structural limits affect accessibility and liquidity efficiency. A typical Uniswap swap costs more in gas than it yields in arbitrage for smaller traders, and liquid staking providers like Lido rely on custodial infrastructure that separates users from their collateral. For projects entering the space now, Ethereum’s ecosystem still delivers scale but at the expense of affordability and transparent verification.
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