Logan Jastremski, a prominent voice in the crypto space and cofounder at FrictionlessVC, dropped a thought-provoking tweet that's got the Ethereum community buzzing. In a simple yet pointed question, he asked: "Genuine question why are zero L2s doing more TPS than high-throughput chains?" Accompanying it was a striking chart visualizing the current state of transactions per second (TPS) across the Ethereum ecosystem.

For those new to the jargon, TPS measures how many transactions a blockchain can process in a second—think of it as the engine's horsepower for handling real-world activity like trading meme tokens during a hype cycle. Higher TPS means smoother, faster experiences, which is crucial when you're trying to snipe that next viral coin before it moons.

The chart paints a clear picture: The entire Ethereum ecosystem hit an all-time high of 2,771 TPS, with a recent 24-hour peak at 1,218 TPS. But when you zoom in on individual chains, it's Base leading the pack at a whopping 104.8 TPS, followed by Starknet at 25.7 TPS and World Chain at 17.2 TPS. Ethereum Mainnet itself clocks in at 16.3 TPS, while popular L2s like Optimism Mainnet (9.6 TPS), Arbitrum One (9.3 TPS), and Unichain (8.3 TPS) are solidly in the mix but not breaking away from the herd.

What's fascinating—and what Logan is calling out—is that none of these Layer 2 solutions (L2s), designed specifically to scale Ethereum by bundling transactions off the main chain, are outpacing the TPS of dedicated high-throughput chains like Solana or Sui. Those beasts routinely hit thousands of TPS in bursts, making them a go-to for high-volume meme coin launches where every millisecond counts.

So, why the lag? A few theories floating around in the replies and broader discussions:

• Demand Dynamics: As one reply quipped, "no demand?" It's a fair point. Ethereum's L2s thrive on DeFi liquidity and NFT drops, but meme token frenzies often flock to cheaper, faster chains. Without the same viral pull, L2s aren't stress-tested to their limits.

• Hardware Hurdles: Logan fired back, suggesting it "should be easier to crank the hardware to get to 10-100k plus TPS." Spot on—L2s like Arbitrum or Optimism could theoretically scale with better sequencers and node setups, but real-world adoption hasn't forced that upgrade yet.

• Ecosystem Lock-in: Ethereum's strength is its security and developer tools, not raw speed. Meme traders love the familiarity, but when gas fees spike or congestion hits, they jump ship to Solana's meme meta. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem: Build speed without users, or wait for users to demand it?

For us at Meme Insider, this hits close to home. Meme tokens live or die by transaction speed—remember the chaos of PEPE's launch on Ethereum? Congestion turned profits into frustration. As L2s like Base (Coinbase's baby) push boundaries with 100+ TPS, we're seeing more meme action migrate there. Projects like Brett and Degen are proving that Ethereum-adjacent speed can fuel the next big pumps without ditching the ETH security model.

Looking ahead, upgrades like Dencun (already live) and future Prague/Electra hard forks could juice these numbers. But Logan's question lingers: Will L2s ever truly lap the high-throughput competition, or are they content playing catch-up in the meme wars?

What do you think—time for Ethereum to rev its engines, or is the multi-chain future here to stay? Drop your takes in the comments, and keep an eye on meme-insider.com for the latest on token trends and tech breakdowns.