Ethereum, the world’s second-largest blockchain, has reached a new milestone as daily transactions climb to record highs while transaction costs fall to levels not seen in years. Data from on-chain trackers show that average daily transactions have increased 14% over the past two weeks, rising from 1.8 million to 2.1 million, marking a clear uptick in network activity compared with previous peaks during the 2021 market cycle. At the same time, average transaction fees have dropped significantly, making Ethereum transfers more accessible and cost-efficient for both individual users and enterprise applications.
Experts attribute this growth to Ethereum’s recent upgrades, including EIP-4844 and the blob-capacity enhancement, which allow Layer 2 solutions to post bulk data to the mainnet at a fraction of the previous cost. These improvements have made transactions cheaper without sacrificing security or network performance, creating a more efficient ecosystem for payments and stablecoin transfers. According to blockchain analytics from Blockscout, most activity is driven by Tether’s USDT, which processes roughly twice the volume of Circle’s USDC, highlighting Ethereum’s dominance in the stablecoin payment space.
Network stability is also reflected in the validator exit queue, which has fallen to zero, indicating that staking incentives remain balanced and no mass withdrawals are taking place. Approximately 30% of all Ethereum is now staked, and the queue for validators entering staking has reached 2.6 million ETH, the highest since mid-2023. These metrics suggest that stakers are confident in the long-term health of the network and are actively committing capital rather than seeking liquidity during periods of volatility.
Despite the positive trends, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has emphasized that the network’s sustainability depends on avoiding unnecessary protocol bloat. He warned that adding highly specific features or complex cryptographic dependencies could undermine Ethereum’s simplicity and long-term resilience. Industry observers see this as a governance reminder: while Ethereum can scale efficiently today, ongoing optimization and simplification will be crucial to maintaining agility in future cycles.
For investors and developers, these developments signal a maturing Ethereum ecosystem capable of handling higher transaction volumes with lower fees, while maintaining security and staker confidence. The combination of upgraded modular architecture, stable transaction costs, and robust staking participation positions Ethereum as a reliable foundation for decentralized applications and mainstream payment integrations moving forward. The network’s ability to scale sustainably, while carefully managing complexity, underscores its potential to remain a central player in the blockchain economy for years to come.
