Ethereum’s network activity has surged to all-time highs across multiple metrics, but this growth has failed to lift Ethereum’s price or increase base layer fee generation.
A weekly report released by analytics firm CryptoQuant on March 10 found that in February 2026, there were nearly 2 million daily active addresses on Ethereum, exceeding the peak during the 2021 bull market. Active addresses are unique blockchain wallet addresses that have sent or received transactions within a specific time frame (e.g. the past 24 hours)
Smart contract calls (or code on the blockchain telling it to perform a specific action) exceed 40 million times per day, and token transfers driven by internal contract interactions are also setting records. The findings indicate that while investment demand for Ethereum has weakened, DeFi, stablecoins, and automated protocol activity continue to see widespread adoption.
Recording network user activity often indicates the market value of the blockchain’s native tokens. But that’s not the case with Ethereum.
Its native token, ether, has fallen about 30% in the past six months, and the one-year change in Ethereum’s realized capital has turned negative, indicating a net outflow of capital from the market.
Trade flow data from CryptoQuant shows that ether is moving to trading venues at a faster rate relative to Bitcoin, a pattern consistent with rising selling pressure.
Pay attention to capital flows
CryptoQuant believes that capital flows rather than network activity now more effectively explain ETH price dynamics.
In previous cycles, especially 2018 and 2021, increased on-chain activity coincided with rising prices. The relationship has weakened. The firm’s dispersion analysis shows that recent observations have clustered around high activity levels but relatively low prices, suggesting that incremental usage growth now explains less of Ethereum’s valuation.
The expense situation exacerbates this disconnect. Data from DefiLlama shows that Ethereum generated approximately $10.3 million in transaction fees in the past 30 days, ranking third behind Tron’s nearly $25 million and Solana’s approximately $20 million.
In terms of income, the gap further widens. Ethereum ranks fifth in 30-day protocol revenue at $1.22 million, behind Tron, Polygon, Base, and Solana. Base is the Ethereum layer 2 network built by Coinbase and generated approximately three times the protocol revenue of Ethereum during the same period.
This difference reflects the growing role of Ethereum’s second-layer ecosystem. Networks such as Base and Polygon process large volumes of transactions while paying relatively small settlement costs to the base chain, distributing economic activity across the broader Ethereum ecosystem rather than concentrating it on the base layer.
Stablecoins remain a bright spot for adoption. According to DefiLlama, Ethereum has approximately $162 billion in stablecoin supply, accounting for approximately 52% of the global market. However, this activity has not translated into corresponding value capture for Ethereum itself.
Ethereum may be busier than ever, but the value captured by the blockchain’s native assets is decreasing.
