Ethereum’s Usage Just Hit All-Time High While Price Plummets – What This Means for You

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<a href="https://jpyxx.com/eth-usd/">Ethereum</a> Sets User Record As Price Lags Far Behind Network Growth

BlackRock’s new fund for staked Ethereum attracted $155 million in its first day – a stronger start than their Bitcoin ETF had. This highlights the growing interest in Ethereum as of early 2026.

To be frank, the token’s price decline is a major concern. It’s fallen over 55% from its peak of around $4,953 in August 2025, and unfortunately, it’s still trending downwards as I continue my research.

A Network Busier Than Ever

In February 2026, the number of daily users on the Ethereum network neared 2 million, exceeding previous highs seen during the 2021 bull market, as reported by CryptoQuant.

Ethereum is seeing record levels of activity, with over 40 million smart contract interactions happening daily. A significant amount of ETH – nearly 30% of all Ether in existence, or 37 million coins – is currently locked up in staking. These figures demonstrate that more people are using the network now than ever before.

Despite increased activity on the Ethereum network, its price hasn’t risen. In fact, it’s fallen by about 30% in the last six months.

Ethereum Mainnet active addresses are holding at ALL-TIME HIGH levels!

3.64M weekly active addresses.

As an analyst, I’ve been tracking some impressive growth. Looking back over the past year, we’ve seen a phenomenal 97% increase. More recently, in just the last four weeks, growth has continued at a solid 13%. Currently, Polygon‘s Proof-of-Stake network is close on our heels with 2.84 million [units – assuming transactions or similar]. Base is at 1.99 million, and Arbitrum is at 785,000.

Data via @growthepie_eth

— Leon Waidmann (@LeonWaidmann) March 26, 2026

Currently, the price of ether seems to be more influenced by money coming in and out of the market, and the amount of ether held on exchanges, than by how much people are actually using the Ethereum network. This is a change from previous periods of price increases, like in 2018 and 2021, when higher prices consistently followed increased network activity. That connection isn’t as strong anymore.

Ethereum holds around $162 billion in stablecoins, representing about half of the entire global stablecoin market. However, despite this high level of activity, the value of Ether, Ethereum’s native token, hasn’t increased as much as expected. While the blockchain is very active, its token isn’t seeing the same benefits it used to.

Where The Money Is Going

One reason for the shift is how Ethereum has evolved. In 2021, when activity was mostly on the main Ethereum network (Layer 1), the network generated over $500 million in fees each month. Now, more of the financial benefits are going to the companies running Layer 2 networks and those who order transactions, rather than directly to people who hold Ether. While Ethereum has become more efficient, the value hasn’t translated into increased gains for Ether holders.

According to data from DefiLlama, Ethereum earned around $10 million in transaction fees over the last month. This puts it in third place, behind Tron with almost $25 million and Solana with about $20 million. Despite increasing activity, Ethereum is seeing a smaller portion of overall transaction fees compared to these other networks.

Looking at the amount of Ethereum held on exchanges tells a different story. Exchange reserves are at a record low of 16 million ETH, a 30% decrease from the 23 million ETH held in 2023.

Approximately 7 million Ether (ETH), valued at about $13.7 billion, has been taken off of exchanges. Instead of potentially selling, people are moving their coins to more secure, offline storage (cold storage) or locking them up for staking.

When fewer items are available for sale on exchanges, it can ease selling pressure over time, but it doesn’t ensure prices will go back up.

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2026-03-28 13:35