Avalanche Foundation has released a detailed benchmarking study comparing the Avalanche C-Chain with eight other blockchain networks—Arbitrum, Base, BSC, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Solana, and Tron—on transaction costs, application revenue, and network fee capture. The analysis explores the economic trade-offs between low transaction fees and the value retained by blockchain infrastructure, a critical question for long-term network sustainability.

Economic Trade-Offs in Blockchain Pricing

The study highlights a key industry dilemma: while lower transaction fees can attract more activity, they may also reduce the share of value captured by the network itself. This trade-off is central to Avalanche’s ongoing efforts to optimize its fee structure, particularly following the Helicon upgrade on September 22, 2026. Helicon introduced ACP-283, allowing validators to continuously vote on the minimum gas price, a departure from previous fixed-floor mechanisms.

According to the report, Avalanche’s C-Chain burns all transaction fees—both base and priority fees—removing AVAX from circulation rather than distributing fees to validators. Validators are instead compensated through staking rewards. This unique fee structure, combined with recent upgrades, positions Avalanche as a case study in balancing affordability and economic sustainability.

Key Findings from the Benchmark

The benchmarking study revealed several critical insights:

  • Average transaction costs decreased across all nine networks between July 2024 and August 2026. However, the cheapest network varied depending on the type of activity measured, such as simple transfers or decentralized exchange (DEX) trades.
  • The ratio of transaction fees to gross application revenue ranged widely, from 3.29% on Arbitrum to 87.81% on Tron, reflecting differing activity mixes.
  • Four networks, including Avalanche, showed a clear downward trend in fee-to-revenue ratios over the most recent 12 months, while none exhibited an upward trend.

These findings underscore that neither transaction prices nor fee revenue alone can fully measure a network’s economic performance. The composition and scale of application activity are equally important factors.

Impact of Recent Upgrades

Several upgrades have reshaped the C-Chain’s fee dynamics:

  • ACP-125 (Etna): Activated on December 16, 2024, this upgrade reduced the minimum base fee from 25 nAVAX to 1 nAVAX, a 96% reduction.
  • ACP-176 (Fortuna): Implemented on April 8, 2025, this upgrade further lowered the minimum base fee to 1 wei and introduced a continuous exponential accumulator for base fee adjustments.
  • ACP-283 (Helicon): Introduced validator voting on the minimum gas price, enabling dynamic adjustments based on demand elasticity.

These changes have shifted the C-Chain from a fixed-floor pricing model to a more flexible system. For most of its history, the C-Chain’s base fee closely tracked its minimum floor, but Helicon’s validator-driven mechanism allows for more responsive pricing adjustments.

Looking Ahead

The Avalanche Foundation’s benchmarking study emphasizes that determining the optimal price for blockspace remains an empirical question. Future experiments and modeling will focus on understanding demand elasticity and its implications for network revenue. As the blockchain industry continues to evolve, Avalanche’s approach to fee optimization offers valuable insights into the economic trade-offs of decentralized infrastructure.