## Ethereum's Unprecedented Milestone

Ethereum is currently processing **more transactions than ever before** while costing users **less than at any point in the network's recent history**. This remarkable achievement highlights the profound impact of recent protocol upgrades and a significant surge in stablecoin adoption.

### Transaction Volume Soars to New Heights

The seven-day moving average of transactions on Ethereum is now approaching **2.5 million**, a record high that's **nearly double its value from one year ago**. Transaction activity has experienced a dramatic surge since mid-December, reversing a general slow decline that began in the middle of 2025.

### Gas Fees Plummet to Record Lows

Simultaneously, average gas fees have fallen to **significant lows**. Data shows average transaction costs around **$0.15 in gas**, the lowest in the network's modern history. Etherscan gas data pegs estimated transaction fees even lower, averaging around **$0.04 for a swap** on Sunday.

This unusual combination of **peak activity and rock-bottom costs** marks a turning point for Ethereum, which has long faced criticism for high and unpredictable fees that priced out smaller users during periods of congestion.

### The Impact of Protocol Upgrades

The surge in activity comes seven weeks after Ethereum's **Fusaka hard fork went live**, which introduced **PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling)** and kicked off the network's new twice-a-year upgrade schedule. The final Blob Parameters Only fork, deployed January 8, pushed the blob target to 14 and the maximum cap to 21, significantly reducing data costs for **Layer 2 rollups**.

The collapse in mainnet gas fees reflects a separate but related trend. Ethereum's block gas limit **rose from 45 million to 60 million in late November**, a 100% increase from the start of 2025. As execution has shifted to Layer 2 networks, demand for mainnet blockspace has eased even as overall activity climbs.

### Stablecoin Usage Reaches Record Levels

The activity spike coincides with **record stablecoin usage**. Standard Chartered recently noted that stablecoin transfers now account for roughly **35% to 40% of all Ethereum transactions**, with Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoffrey Kendrick declaring **"2026 will be the year of Ethereum."**

### Staking Activity Hits New Highs

Staking activity has also reached new highs. Over **36 million ETH is now locked in staking contracts**, representing roughly 30% of the circulating supply. The entry queue has swelled to over **2.5 million ETH**, its highest level since August 2023, while the exit queue has dropped to near-zero.

### Vitalik Buterin's Vision for 2026

Ethereum co-founder **Vitalik Buterin recently declared** that 2026 will be the year Ethereum's community works to combat the "backsliding" of personal autonomy in crypto, expressing his views on blockchain privacy and user experience in a detailed X post. "Every compromise of values that Ethereum has made up to this point - every moment where you might have been thinking, is it really worth diluting ourselves so much in the name of mainstream adoption - we are making that compromise no longer," Buterin said.

The seven-day moving average of daily Ethereum transactions is now nearly double its value from one year ago, as gas fees drop in tandem.

Today Bitcoin Articles Digested