KEYTAKEAWAYS
- Ethereum’s seven-day average transaction count has climbed to a record level even as average Gas fees have dropped to their lowest point in modern history.
- Recent protocol upgrades, higher block Gas limits, and the continued shift of execution activity to Layer 2 networks have significantly reduced mainnet congestion and user costs.
- Stablecoin transfers and staking activity have both reached all-time highs, underscoring Ethereum’s growing role as a settlement and infrastructure layer rather than a high-cost execution bottleneck.
CONTENT
Ethereum has reached a structural turning point as on-chain transaction volumes hit record highs while average Gas fees fall to historic lows, driven by protocol upgrades, Layer 2 migration, and surging stablecoin adoption.
Ethereum’s on-chain transaction activity has now reached an all-time high, while user transaction costs have simultaneously remained at their lowest levels in recent years. This milestone reflects the combined impact of recent protocol upgrades and the rapid growth in stablecoin adoption.
SURGING TRANSACTION VOLUME, RECORD-LOW AVERAGE GAS
According to data from The Block, Ethereum’s seven-day moving average transaction count has approached 2.5 million, setting a new historical high and nearly doubling from the same period last year. Since mid-December, transaction activity has rebounded noticeably, reversing the gradual downward trend that began in mid-2025.
At the same time, average Gas fees have fallen to extremely low levels. Data from The Block show that the average Gas cost per transaction is around $0.15, marking the lowest level in Ethereum’s “modern history.” Gas data from Etherscan further indicate that the estimated fee for a single swap on Sunday fell as low as approximately $0.04.
This rare combination of “record-high transaction activity and rock-bottom costs” marks a critical turning point for Ethereum. For years, Ethereum has been criticized for high and volatile fees, particularly during periods of network congestion, which often priced out small-value users.
PROTOCOL UPGRADES AND THE LAYER 2 MIGRATION EFFECT
This surge in transaction volume occurred roughly seven weeks after the activation of Ethereum’s Fusaka hard fork. The upgrade introduced PeerDAS (peer-to-peer data availability sampling) and formally initiated Ethereum’s fixed twice-yearly upgrade cadence.
The most recent network upgrade, deployed on January 8 and focused solely on adjusting Blob parameters, raised the Blob target to 14 and the maximum to 21, significantly reducing data costs for Layer 2 rollups.
The collapse in mainnet Gas fees also reflects another closely related trend. Ethereum’s block Gas limit was increased from 45 million to 60 million in late November, nearly doubling compared with early 2025. As execution-layer activity continues to migrate toward Layer 2 networks, demand for mainnet block space has cooled noticeably, even as overall transaction activity increases.
STABLECOINS AND STAKING BOTH HIT RECORD HIGHS
The surge in transaction activity also closely coincides with record-high stablecoin usage. Standard Chartered recently noted that stablecoin transfers now account for approximately 35% to 40% of all Ethereum transactions. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank’s Global Head of Digital Asset Research, stated bluntly: “2026 will be the year of Ethereum.”
Meanwhile, staking activity on the Ethereum network has also reached an all-time high. According to ValidatorQueue data, more than 36 million ETH are currently locked in staking contracts, representing roughly 30% of circulating supply. At the same time, the staking entry queue has expanded to more than 2.5 million ETH, the highest level since August 2023, while the exit queue has fallen to nearly zero.
