Ethereum quietly sets record, surpassing 2021 NFT boom

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Ethereum sets new record for daily on-chain transactions

Highlights

Ethereum set a new historical record for transactions, surpassing levels seen during the 2021 NFT boom, with the network processing an average of around 1.87 million transactions per day.
Number of active addresses reached its highest level since 2021, while daily new address growth marked the largest increase since 2018.
Surge is linked to network upgrades that reduced fees and improved scalability, bringing real usage back to Ethereum from both users and institutional participants.

Ethereum ended the year at a peak of on-chain activity. According to data from The Block, the seven-day moving average of daily transactions reached 1.87 million on December 31. This exceeded the previous all-time high recorded in May 2021 during the height of the NFT and DeFi boom, as well as a more recent local peak in August 2025.

Importantly, the current record does not appear to be a short-lived spike. The rise in transactions has been accompanied by sustained growth across other user metrics, pointing to deeper structural changes in how the network is being used.

Active and new addresses return to peak-cycle levels

Beyond transaction counts, Ethereum has seen a sharp increase in user activity. The number of active addresses climbed to 728,904, the highest level since May 2021. At the same time, the network recorded 270,160 new addresses in a single day, marking the largest one-day increase since early 2018.

This trend suggests not only a return of existing users, but also a fresh inflow of new participants into the ecosystem. The development is particularly notable given that ETH’s price performance over the year remained relatively muted.

Why network activity is rising now

Analysts attribute the surge primarily to technological changes introduced in 2025. According to Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, network upgrades significantly reduced fees, increased throughput, and made Ethereum more attractive to institutional participants — including through ETFs and real-world asset tokenization initiatives.

Lower costs and an improved user experience have gradually brought back use cases that were previously uneconomical on the network.

Pectra and Fusaka: Upgrades that reshaped Ethereum’s economics

In 2025, Ethereum underwent two major upgrades — Pectra and Fusaka. The Pectra upgrade increased blob data throughput, introduced elements of account abstraction to improve wallet usability, and raised staking limits for validators.

Fusaka, in turn, activated the PeerDAS mechanism, optimizing data sampling and enabling the network to support a higher number of rollup operations without increasing strain on nodes. Combined with higher gas limits and progress in zkEVM performance, these changes significantly lowered costs and strengthened Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap.

What comes next: the 2026 roadmap

Network development does not stop here. In 2026, Ethereum is set to undergo another wave of major upgrades. Glamsterdam, expected in the first half of the year, will focus on improving overall network performance and further advancing decentralization.

Later in the year, Hegota is scheduled to roll out, targeting long-term sustainability of the network and its economic model. Together, these upgrades are expected to cement the gains made in 2025 and lay the groundwork for Ethereum’s next phase of growth.

Earlier, we reported that the PEPE memecoin surged by 25% amid a rise in speculative interest.

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