Ethereum Weekly Transactions Hit 2.5 Million as Gas Fees Drop to Record Lows

Highlights:

• Ethereum transactions hit 2.5 million weekly average, nearly double last year.
• Gas fees dropped to $0.15, which makes Ethereum more affordable for users.
• Stablecoin transfers now account for 35–40% of Ethereum’s total transactions.

Ethereum is handling more transactions than ever before. The seven‑day average is close to 2.5 million, which is almost double compared to last year. Activity has picked up sharply since mid‑December, reversing the slowdown that lasted through much of the past year. At the same time, gas fees have dropped a lot. On average, transactions now cost about $0.15, and simple token swaps can be as cheap as $0.04. This makes Ethereum much more affordable and friendly for smaller users than in past cycles.

ETH has 10x more TVL and 14x more stablecoin supply than Solana.

SOL has 3x more active addresses and 110x more daily transactions than Ethereum.

ETH is the home of DeFi and the global settlement layer for secure, high-value activity. The institutional chain.

SOL is the home… pic.twitter.com/cHC1KWhb2s

— Simon Dedic (@sjdedic) January 18, 2026

Gas Fees Drop to All-Time Lows

Ethereum is now at a turning point. For years, it was criticized for high and unpredictable fees that kept smaller users out during busy times. But today, the network is seeing record activity while costs are at rock-bottom levels. This unusual mix of peak usage and low fees shows how much Ethereum has changed and become more accessible.

Ethereum’s surge in activity came seven weeks after the Fusaka hard fork went live. This upgrade introduced PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling) and began the network’s new twice‑a‑year upgrade schedule. Then, on January 8, the Blob Parameters Only fork raised the blob target to 14 and the maximum cap to 21. As a result, data costs for Layer‑2 rollups went down. This change has lowered the pressure on Ethereum’s mainnet. Even though transaction counts keep rising, the network runs more smoothly, and fees stay low.

At the same time, stablecoin use has grown quickly. Standard Chartered reports that stablecoin transfers now make up about 35% to 40% of all Ethereum transactions. Geoffrey Kendrick, Global Head of Digital Assets Research, summed it up clearly: “2026 will be the year of Ethereum.” 

Moreover, staking activity has reached new highs. More than 36 million ETH, which is about 30% of the circulating supply, is now locked in staking contracts. This shows strong long‑term commitment from participants who are choosing to keep their ETH staked rather than withdraw.

Vitalik Buterin Pledges to Stop Ethereum Value Compromises

Ethereum co‑founder Vitalik Buterin recently shared his outlook for the year. He explained on X that every compromise of values Ethereum had made in the past for mainstream adoption would no longer be made. “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.

2026 is the year that we take back lost ground in terms of self-sovereignty and trustlessness.

Some of what this practically means:

Full nodes: thanks to ZK-EVM and BAL, it will once again become easier to locally run a node and verify the Ethereum chain on your own computer.…

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) January 16, 2026

Despite the strong staking and activity highs, ETH is trading in a tight band between $3,150 and $3,300. Also, its market cap dropped about 4% in the past 24 hours. Price movement has become less volatile, and this compressed action shows the uncertainty that still exists in the wider cryptocurrency market.