Ethereum's monthly active users have climbed steadily over the past year, reaching a new record. The sustained growth comes as transaction costs remain near historic lows despite surging demand.
User Growth Reflects Broad Network Expansion
David Walsh, Head of Enterprise at the Ethereum Foundation, shared datashowing Ethereum's weekly average for monthly active users jumped from around 8-9 million in late 2025 to 13.8 million as of Jan 21. The chart displays a sharp upward trajectory beginning in early January.
On-chain analytics platform Glassnodereported that Ethereum's Month-over-Month Activity Retention shows a sharp spike in the "New" cohort, indicating a surge in first-time interacting addresses over the past 30 days. This reflects a notable influx of new wallets engaging with the Ethereum network, rather than activity being driven solely by existing participants.
Daily transactions on Ethereumhit 2.8 millionon Jan 16, setting a new all-time high. This represents a 125% increase compared to the same period last year. The growing transaction count reflects higher usage across stablecoins, decentralized finance protocols, and tokenized assets.
The surge occurred without triggering the fee spikes that historically accompanied demand increases. Average Ethereum transaction fees have stayed close to recent lows even as overall throughput set new records. This efficiency gain stems from Layer 2 scaling solutions absorbing a significant share of transactional load.
Why Rising Users Matter For ETH
Network usage growth creates direct economic value for ETH through multiple channels. Stablecoin transfers now account for 35-40% of all Ethereum transactions, with transaction volumes hitting fresh all-time highs driven largely by stablecoin activity.
Staking metrics signal ongoing confidence from network participants. Over36 million ETHis now locked in staking contracts, representing roughly 30% of the circulating supply. The entry queue has swelled to over 2.5 million ETH, its highest level since August 2023, while the exit queue has dropped to near-zero.
The Glamsterdam fork in mid-2026 aims to boost L1 throughput toward 10,000 TPS through parallel processing and increased gas limits. Sustained user growth combined with expanding technical capacity positions Ethereum to maintain its dominance as the primary settlement layer for digital assets.
