Hyperchains vs Arbitrum One: Gas Stability

Native gas token isolation: Each Hyperchain uses its own gas token (e.g., ETH, USDC), decoupling its gas market from Ethereum L1 congestion. This provides predictable, stable fees for users and developers, crucial for high-frequency DeFi protocols like perpetual DEXs or gaming economies that require consistent operational costs.

Sequencer fee autonomy: Hyperchain operators have full control over sequencer fee models and profit margins. This allows for tailored economic policies, such as subsidizing gas for specific applications or implementing fixed-fee structures. Ideal for enterprise deployments and B2B services where billing predictability is a contractual requirement.

Ethereum-aligned security model: As a single, large rollup, Arbitrum One's gas fees are directly influenced by Ethereum L1 calldata costs, providing a transparent and security-backed fee curve. This alignment benefits protocols like Aave and Uniswap V3 that prioritize the security guarantees of a massive, battle-tested settlement layer over absolute fee predictability.

Unified liquidity pool: All activity shares one gas market, leading to highly efficient fee arbitrage and optimized L1 batch posting. This results in generally lower and more stable fees than Ethereum mainnet, suitable for mainstream DeFi and NFT applications where user experience benefits from a single, deep liquidity environment and proven infrastructure like The Graph and Pyth.

Guaranteed base fee: Each Hyperchain is a sovereign zkEVM chain that sets its own gas pricing model, independent of the mainnet or other chains. This allows for stable, sub-cent transaction fees regardless of activity on Arbitrum One or Ethereum. This matters for enterprise applications requiring precise operational budgeting and gaming protocols with micro-transactions.

Architectural control: Teams can implement custom fee market logic (e.g., fixed fees, sponsored transactions, or dynamic models tied to their token). This eliminates exposure to the volatile, auction-based fee market of shared chains. This matters for consumer dApps aiming for a seamless user experience and protocols wanting to subsidize or abstract gas for their users.

Established fee market: As the largest L2 by TVL ($18B+), its fee market is highly liquid and efficient. While fees fluctuate with demand, they are consistently 80-90% lower than Ethereum L1. This matters for DeFi protocols that prioritize deep, shared liquidity (e.g., GMX, Camelot) and applications where user acquisition from the largest L2 user base is critical.

Shared throughput limits: During network spikes (e.g., major NFT mints, token launches), gas prices on Arbitrum One can surge significantly, though from a lower base. All dApps compete for the same block space. This matters for time-sensitive arbitrage bots and high-frequency trading protocols where unpredictable fee spikes can erase profit margins.

Direct L1 gas mirroring: Fees are algorithmically tied to Ethereum L1 gas prices, providing a stable and predictable multiplier. This matters for dApps requiring budget certainty, like DeFi protocols (GMX, Uniswap) where user transaction costs must be forecastable.

Mature network effects: With $2.5B+ TVL and dominant market share, fee spikes are smoothed by high, consistent demand and a well-understood auction mechanism. This matters for high-volume applications that cannot tolerate the volatility of a nascent chain's empty block space.

Complete fee control: Each Hyperchain (e.g., a gaming subnet via Caldera or Conduit) can set its own gas token (ETH, ARB, custom) and fee parameters. This matters for vertical-specific applications seeking to subsidize user fees or create predictable, app-specific economic models.

No shared fee market: Traffic and fee spikes on one Hyperchain (e.g., an NFT mint) do not affect others. This matters for mission-critical infrastructure (e.g., a payments rail or enterprise chain) that requires guaranteed low-latency, low-cost transactions regardless of ecosystem activity.

Network-wide fee pressure: A single popular dApp or airdrop on Arbitrum One can temporarily increase base fees for all other applications. This is a trade-off for smaller protocols that may experience unplanned cost surges during ecosystem-wide events.

Immature fee markets: New Hyperchains lack sustained transaction volume, which can lead to unpredictable fee discovery and reliance on sequencer subsidies. This is a trade-off for early-stage projects that must actively manage validator incentives and user cost expectations.