The Ethereum network has reached a new milestone in usage, with daily transaction activity climbing to its highest level on record. The latest figures show that network demand has now surpassed the peak levels observed during the height of the NFT and DeFi boom in 2021.
According to CryptoQuant, the seven-day rolling average of Ethereum transactions reached 1.87 million on December 31, 2025. This exceeds the previous record of 1.61 million transactions set in May 2021 and also surpasses a local peak recorded in August 2025. Address activity and the number of new network users have also increased alongside transaction volume.
User Growth and Upgrades Drive Network Demand
User engagement on Ethereum has risen sharply in recent months. Analysts report that the number of active addresses climbed to 728,904, the highest level since May 2021. On the same day, more than 270,000 new addresses were created, marking the largest single-day increase since early 2018.
Why Activity Is Rising Without Fee Spikes
Analysts attribute the sustained increase in network activity primarily to technical changes implemented throughout 2025. During the year, Ethereum underwent two major upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, both aimed at improving scalability and lowering costs for users.
The Pectra upgrade increased data throughput, raised staking limits for validators, and introduced multiple performance improvements. Fusaka followed by implementing PeerDAS, which optimized data availability, reduced node load during periods of high demand, and helped keep transaction fees relatively stable even as usage increased.
Experts also point to rising institutional participation as an additional growth factor. Increased stablecoin usage, the expansion of tokenized real-world assets, and capital inflows through exchange-traded products have added sustained demand to the network without triggering sharp fee increases.
Ethereum developers are already preparing another round of major upgrades in 2026. The upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade will focus on overall network performance and resilience, while the subsequent Hegota upgrade is expected to target long-term architectural optimization and decentralization.
Despite growing competition from other blockchains, analysts note that Ethereum continues to serve as core infrastructure for stablecoins, real-world assets, decentralized finance, and yield-generating products.
Source: https://coinpaper.com/13506/eth-transaction-volume-reaches-a-new-high-not-seen-since-2021
