Despite tardy changes in Ether prices, developers are increasingly choosing Ethereum as their settlement layer, and the fourth quarter will be a record period for the network.
Data from Token Terminal shows that the number of novel clever contracts created and published on the Ethereum blockchain reached an all-time high of 8.7 million in the fourth quarter.
This milestone marked a keen rebound from the previous two quarters, when contract implementation activity was significantly lower.
According to Token Terminal, the growth reflects organic growth, driven by real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, stablecoin activity and the development of underlying infrastructure. The blockchain analytics platform noted that “Ethereum is quietly becoming a global settlement layer.”
The trend is noticeable because contract deployment is often seen as a leading indicator of future network activity, typically preceding increases in user numbers, transaction fees and maximum extractable value (MEV), which is the value captured by validators and block builders by ordering transactions.
Over time, these factors tend to contribute to broader economic activity on the chain and can influence the price of Ether (ETH).
Ether briefly surpassed its previous all-time high from earlier this year, reaching near $5,000, before turning sharply following a market-wide liquidation on October 10. At the time of writing, ETH is trading at around $3,000.
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Ethereum remains a major hub for crypto activity
As competition among Layer 1 blockchains intensifies, with rivals such as Solana emphasizing high throughput and low fees, Avalanche focusing on configurable subnets, and BNB Chain leveraging exchange-linked liquidity, the data suggests Ethereum continues to serve as a central pillar of the broader digital asset ecosystem.
Ethereum remains the dominant network in RWA tokenization, taking the largest share of the RWA market cap on-chain.
RedStone researchers described Ethereum as the “institutional standard” for hosting tokenization initiatives, citing its security, depth of liquidity and established infrastructure.
Ethereum continues to anchor the stablecoin market. Of the over $307 billion in stablecoins currently in circulation, more than half are on the Ethereum network, according to data. data with DefiLlama.
Stablecoin activity on the network is dominated by USDt Tether (USDT) and USDC (USDC) Circle, which together account for the majority of Ethereum-based supply.
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