The rate of blob transactions on Ethereum has surged, exceeding the network’s set capacity. This escalation follows the introduction of inscriptions on blobs, a feature that has increased the demand for blob utilization.

Ethereum core developers implemented the Dencun upgrade on the mainnet earlier, introducing “blobs” to make Layer 2 transactions cheaper. They have been successful by allowing Layer 2s to use blobs instead of the “calldata” method for posting transactions—offering a direct path to fee reduction and passing these savings to end users.

However, the recent introduction of inscriptions on blobs has begun to stress test the feature. These inscriptions, inspired by Bitcoin Ordinals, generate unique fungible and non-fungible artifacts that are embedded within blob transactions.