Ethereum Network Sees Surge in Fees Despite Drop in Active Users: What’s Driving the Spike?

As a seasoned researcher who has witnessed the evolution of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, I must admit that the recent developments in the Ethereum network have piqued my curiosity. The fall in average transaction fees to below $1 for the first time since 2020 is indeed noteworthy. However, the subsequent increase in transaction fees over the past few weeks and the surge in burn rate are intriguing.


This month, for the first time in more than four years, the typical Ethereum network transaction fee dropped under $1.

The last instance when the average transaction fee on the network fell within this range was approximately in July 2020, which predates Ethereum’s shift to the proof-of-stake model through the Merge update. At that time, Ethereum was trading around $2642. The 24h volatility was 2.1% and its market cap stood at $318.06 billion, with a 24h volume of $16.31 billion.

More recently, the daily transaction fee on Ethereum has been increasing noticeably. As of this past Monday, data from The Block revealed a fee of approximately $3.52. Compared to September 1st, when the same fee stood at only $0.85, it’s clear that the value has more than tripled over this period.

Concurrently, as transaction fees are rising, so is the destruction rate of Ethereum. In a span of three weeks, the destruction rate has skyrocketed by more than 1600%, climbing from 80.27 ETH on September 1 to 1,360 ETH on September 21.

Over the past month, Uniswap has been the contract with the highest gas usage on the network. Other significant consumers include Uniswap’s V2 version, trading bots Maestro and Banana Gun based on Telegram, as well as ETH transfers and transactions involving stablecoins like Tether (USDT). The market cap for Uniswap is currently $119.16 billion, with a 24-hour volume of $46.07 billion. Similarly, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) is also among the top consumers and has a market cap of $35.95 billion, with a 24-hour volume of $5.73 billion. Both Uniswap and USD Coin have exhibited zero percent volatility over the past 24 hours.

Active Accounts on Ethereum Network (7DMA) Hit Record Low

It’s worth noting that although transaction fees and burns are increasing, the opposite trend has been observed in the average number of active accounts on the network over the past week. The current figure stands at approximately 385,000 accounts, which is a decrease of 11% compared to the start of this period. This is also the lowest value recorded so far this year and marks the network’s lowest point since December 1, 2023.

It seems that Ethereum has been drawing attention lately due to concerns raised by cryptocurrency fans about its dwindling appeal. As a result, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan stated not long ago that “Currently, there’s not much enthusiasm for Ethereum.

Last week, the proportion of Ethereum’s market capitalization compared to Bitcoin‘s reached its lowest point in three years, as stated in a recent report by Coinspeaker. Despite a slight recovery since then, the daily income for Ethereum stakers also recently dropped to a six-month minimum.

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2024-09-23 10:57