The Ethereum mainnet saw 2.2 million transactions in a single day this week, a recent record, while fees dropped to just 17 cents on average.
Layer 1 blockchain recorded a recent transaction milestone on Tuesday, According to to lock Etherscan Explorer. Transaction fees have also dropped significantly over time.
The highest transaction fees on Ethereum were recorded in May 2022, when users had to spend over $200 per transaction.
However, continuous updates have reduced fees significantly, despite continued increases in network usage.
Fees have also been falling since Oct. 10, when they were around $8.48, during a major liquidation that sent the entire market crashing down.
Ethereum’s higher fees have historically pushed users to cheaper alternatives such as Layer 2, but the growing number of transactions on the mainnet indicates a return to the Layer 1 blockchain and growing adoption among cryptocurrency users.
Meanwhile, developers are increasingly choosing Ethereum as their settlement layer, with data from Token Terminal showing that the number of recent intelligent contracts created and published on the Ethereum blockchain peaked at 8.7 million in the fourth quarter.
Two major Ethereum updates in 2025
The Ethereum blockchain has undergone significant changes in 2025, with two updates likely contributing to an boost in transaction volume and a drop in fees.
Related: BitMine Raises $98M in ETH as Year-End Limit Sales Rise: Tom Lee
In May, Pectra focused on validator improvements, establishing elasticity, and preparing Ethereum for future scalability features.
Fusaka increased the gas limit from 45 million to 60 million and is designed to significantly boost network scalability, data handling and performance. In February, over 50% of Ethereum validators signaled support for raising the gas limit on the network, thereby increasing the maximum amount of gas that can be used for transactions in a single Ethereum block.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Ethereum staking queue crossed the exit line for the first time in six months, with almost twice as much Ether (ETH) in the queue to be staked as there is ETH trying to leave the network.
Staking is often seen as a sign that validators want to release Ether for sale, while staking is seen as a sign of confidence that it can be locked up for long-term holding.
Warehouse: Fusaka Ethereum fork explained for dummies: what the hell is PeerDAS?
