Dusting Attacks on ETH Increased by 60% After Fusaka

According to Coin Metrics, after the Fusaka update, stablecoin-based dusting attacks on Ethereum account for approximately 11% of all transactions and 26% of active addresses. An average of more than 2 million transactions and 1.4 million active addresses are recorded daily; these represent a 60% increase compared to pre-Fusaka averages. The update improved on-chain data management, making data transfers from layer-2 networks to Ethereum cheaper.

Median Ethereum transaction size fell sharply after Fusaka. Source: Coin Metrics

How Did the Fusaka Update Affect the ETH Network?

Coin Metrics analyzed over 227 million USDC and USDT balance updates between November 2025 and January 2026; 43% under 1 dollar, 38% under one cent transfers, classified as dusting for wallet seeding purposes. Pre-Fusaka rates were 3-5% of transactions and 15-20% of active addresses, rising to 10-15% of transactions and 25-35% of active addresses afterward. The remaining 57% of balance updates are organic transfers over 1 dollar. Address poisoning attacks exploit low gas fees; January reported 740 thousand USD in losses, with the largest attacker spending only 5.175 USD in stablecoin for 3 million dusting transfers.

Daily Transaction Increase: 60% (2M+ transactions)
Active Address Increase: 60% (1.4M+ addresses)
Dusting Rate: 11% of transactions, 26% of addresses

Although most network growth stems from real usage, dusting should be factored into metrics. Vitalik Buterin emphasized that the original vision of L2s is data optimization beyond hyperscale, supporting Fusaka’s role. Low gas fees triggered the attacks.

Critical Support and Resistance Levels for ETH

ETH price at 2,274.31 USD level, 24h -2.92% drop. RSI 27.64 (oversold), downtrend dominant. For detailed ETH analysis supports: S1 2,108.69 (strong, -7.28%), S2 2,233.68. Resistances: R1 2,346.25 (+3.16%). ETH futures may increase volatility.