What changed in ETH network usage?

TLDR

Ethereum (ETH) network usage rose sharply this week, setting record transaction counts while fees stayed low.

1. Daily L1 transactions hit a 2025 record on 24 Dec with average fees around $0.16%%CKPROTECTED2%% per the report.
2. Active addresses increased 22% and monthly transactions 16%, with new wallets surging in December per the update.
3. Drivers include Layer?2 settlement and a shift toward larger business payments on stablecoins, per the analysis.

Deep Dive

1. Records and Fees

Ethereum set new activity highs this week with a 24 Dec record day and low average fees near $0.16%%CKPROTECTED1%%. This points to higher throughput without pricing out users.

1. Ethereum L1 processed 1.91 million transactions on 24 Dec with low fees, highlighting improved capacity and efficiency per the report.
2. The seven?day average transaction count reached an all?time high, with activity attributed to Layer?2 settlement, DeFi and stablecoin flows per the coverage.

2. Address and Wallet Growth

User engagement climbed this week across multiple metrics.

1. Active addresses rose 22% week over week; monthly transaction count rose 16%; new wallets averaged 163,000 per day in December per the update.
2. These trends indicate participation is broadening even as price trades near $3,000, implying fundamentals and usage are diverging from short?term price.

3. Shift Toward Payments and L2

Composition of usage is changing: more settlement from rollups and larger business payments in stablecoins.

1. A significant share of activity increase comes from Layer?2s settling back to mainnet per the coverage.
2. Stablecoin payments are shifting toward institutions: B2B volume up 156%, P2B up 167%, with bigger average sizes per the analysis.

Conclusion

Ethereums network usage is up meaningfully this week, with record throughput and low fees, broader address growth, and a tilt toward L2 settlement and larger stablecoin payments. This strengthens fundamentals and could matter for long?term value, even if price remains range?bound short term.