tl;dr
Daily Ethereum transactions rose to 1.87 million, nearing the all-time high of 1.96 million, signaling renewed user demand after a decline last year. This growth is largely driven by stablecoins like Tether and USDC, and decentralized exchange Uniswap. Regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act and appr...
Daily Ethereum transactions inched up to 1.87 million yesterday, nearing the all-time high of 1.96 million recorded on January 14, 2024, according to Etherscan data. This increase represents a positive sign for Ethereum, which experienced decreased user demand over the past year as competitors like Solana gained market share. Notably, Solana has already seen 22 million transactions today. The rise in Ethereum transaction volume, nearly doubling since the start of the year, underscores growing activity on the network.
The bulk of this uptick is driven by stablecoins such as Tether and USDC, as well as by the decentralized exchange Uniswap. Jake Kennis, Senior Research Analyst at Nansen, highlighted the importance of monitoring transaction counts alongside gas prices and fee generation to assess on-chain market activity. The increase in stablecoin transactions is closely tied to regulatory developments in Washington, particularly the passage of the GENIUS Act, which provides a legal framework for stablecoins operating in the U.S. This legislative clarity has boosted market confidence, according to Sara Gherghelas, senior analyst at DappRadar.
Furthermore, the approval of multiple Ethereum ETFs has introduced more liquidity from traditional markets, driving additional on-chain activity. Analysts have noted that Ethereum ETFs have recently outpaced Bitcoin ETFs in growth. Gherghelas also mentioned a surge in meme coin trading and token creation on Ethereum, fueled by the simplicity of launching new tokens. Despite this, Solana continues to dominate meme coin activity, accounting for about 90% of volume compared to Ethereum's roughly 10%, despite dismissive remarks from Solana’s co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko.
Layer-2 networks such as Polygon and Coinbase's Base play a critical role in scaling Ethereum to handle higher throughput and meet growing user demand. The transaction surge is bullish for the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, which has seen total value locked rise to $137 billion, with Ethereum responsible for 59% of that amount. However, Gherghelas cautioned that the sustainability of this momentum remains uncertain, especially with significant macroeconomic events anticipated in early 2026.
Overall, this wave of increased transaction volume and market activity has brought heightened attention and credibility to the Ethereum network and broader DeFi ecosystem. If the trend continues, it could have a very positive impact on sectors like lending and other on-chain financial services.