Usman Salis
⬤ Ethereum's on-chain activity is heating up. Monthly transactions are pushing toward 70 million in early 2026, a level that marks a genuine cycle high after years of the network grinding sideways. The chart data from The Block shows bars climbing steadily — this isn't a one-month spike, it's a sustained move beyond the 30M-40M consolidation band that defined much of the previous cycle. For anyone watching Ethereum's record usage alongside fees falling below $1, the timing makes sense.
⬤ The buildup didn't happen overnight. Activity began accelerating through 2024 and 2025 before breaking into the current elevated range. Lower gas fees and expanding Layer-2 adoption have quietly made the network accessible to far more users and apps, which shows up directly in these numbers.
Sustained growth in Ethereum's transaction volumes demonstrates that the network's role as a settlement layer remains strong.
⬤ What's driving 70 million monthly transactions? A mix of everything — stablecoin transfers, DeFi interactions, smart contract calls, and growing dApp usage. Layer-1 throughput is holding up, while L2 solutions are efficiently handling overflow. Interestingly, this growth is happening even as ETH price has shown mixed performance, which suggests the demand is fundamentally driven rather than purely speculative. It's also worth noting that network activity surges aren't unique to Ethereum — similar momentum has appeared across the broader crypto ecosystem.
⬤ Approaching new cycle highs in transaction count is one of the cleaner signals in on-chain analysis. It points to real, expanding usage rather than a market driven by narrative alone. For those building a longer-term view, this kind of metric — alongside picks from the best crypto assets with real growth potential — matters more than short-term price action. Watching how these numbers evolve over the coming months will tell a lot about where Ethereum's adoption cycle is truly headed.
Usman Salis
