TLDR
- Ethereum daily transactions hit a record high of nearly 2.5 million on a seven-day moving average, almost double the volume from one year ago
- Gas fees on Ethereum have dropped to historic lows of approximately $0.15 per transaction, with some estimates as low as $0.04
- Stablecoin transfers now make up 35% to 40% of all Ethereum transactions, driving increased network activity
- The Fusaka upgrade and recent blob parameter changes have reduced Layer 2 costs while a gas limit increase has kept mainnet fees low
- Standard Chartered analysts predict Ethereum could reach $40,000 by 2030, representing potential growth of around 1,100% from current levels
Ethereum is processing more transactions than ever before while charging users less money per transaction. The seven-day moving average of transactions on Ethereum is approaching 2.5 million.
Transaction activity increased sharply in mid-December. This reversed a slow decline that started in the middle of 2025.
At the same time, average gas fees have fallen to record lows. The Block’s data shows average transaction costs around $0.15 in gas. Etherscan gas data shows even lower fees, averaging around $0.04 for a swap on Sunday.
$ETH gas fees have fallen below $0.01 even as network activity hits an all-time high.
Near-zero cost. pic.twitter.com/uLnAjKQUu3
— Ted (@TedPillows) January 17, 2026
The combination of high activity and low costs marks a turning point for Ethereum. The network has faced criticism in the past for high fees that made it expensive for smaller users during busy periods.
The surge in activity started seven weeks after Ethereum’s Fusaka hard fork went live. This upgrade introduced PeerDAS and began the network’s new twice-a-year upgrade schedule. The Blob Parameters Only fork deployed on January 8 pushed the blob target to 14 and the maximum cap to 21. This reduced data costs for Layer 2 rollups.
Gas Limit Increase Drives Fee Reduction
Ethereum’s block gas limit rose from 45 million to 60 million in late November. This represents 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.
The drop in mainnet gas fees reflects this trend. More activity is happening on the network while costs continue to fall.
Stablecoin usage has reached record levels on Ethereum. Standard Chartered recently reported that stablecoin transfers now account for roughly 35% to 40% of all Ethereum transactions. Global Head of Digital Assets Research Geoffrey Kendrick declared “2026 will be the year of Ethereum.”
Staking Activity Reaches New Heights
Over 36 million ETH is now locked in staking contracts. This represents roughly 30% of the circulating supply, according to ValidatorQueue data. The entry queue has grown to over 2.5 million ETH, its highest level since August 2023. The exit queue has dropped to near-zero.
$ETH exit queue is now at zero.
Meanwhile, ETH entry queue is at 2,597,838 which is the highest level in 2.5 years.
Insane demand for staking Ethereum. pic.twitter.com/opFSSjpaMf
— Ted (@TedPillows) January 17, 2026
Standard Chartered analysts set a price target of $40,000 for Ethereum by the end of 2030. This suggests potential upside of around 1,100%. As of January 13, Ethereum was trading at around $3,300.
The analysts believe Ethereum could outperform Bitcoin in 2026. They point to the growth of stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization as key drivers.
Citigroup estimates that stablecoin issuance could grow from around $280 billion today to between $1.9 trillion and $4 trillion. Ethereum currently accounts for just over 50% of the stablecoin market, according to DefiLlama.
Ethereum currently has $75.32 billion in funds in its ecosystem. If even $950 billion in stablecoins were issued on its blockchain, that would increase its total value locked by over 1,100%.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently stated that 2026 will be the year Ethereum’s community works to combat the “backsliding” of personal autonomy in crypto. He expressed his views on blockchain privacy and user experience in a detailed post on X.
