Ethereum’s network activity has surged to all-time highs across multiple metrics, but the growth has failed to lift ether’s price or boost fee generation at the base layer.
A weekly report from analytics firm CryptoQuant published March 10 found that daily active addresses on Ethereum approached 2 million in February 2026, exceeding peaks seen during the 2021 bull market. Active addresses are unique blockchain wallet addresses that have sent or received a transaction within a specific timeframe, like the past 24 hours
Smart contract calls, or codes on blockchain telling it to do something specific, topped 40 million per day, and token transfers driven by internal contract interactions also set records. The findings point to broad adoption across DeFi, stablecoins and automated protocol activity, even as investment demand for ether has weakened.
Record network user activity typically bodes well for the market value of the blockchain’ native token. But that’s not the case with Ethereum.
It’s native token ether is down roughly 30% over the last six months, and the one-year change in Ethereum’s realized capitalization has turned negative, indicating net capital outflows from the market.
Exchange flow data from CryptoQuant shows ether moving to trading venues at a faster rate relative to bitcoin, a pattern consistent with elevated selling pressure.
Focus on capital flows
CryptoQuant argued that capital flows, rather than network activity, now explain ETH price dynamics more effectively.
In prior cycles, particularly 2018 and 2021, rising on-chain activity coincided with price rallies. That relationship has weakened. The firm’s scatter analysis showed recent observations clustering at high activity levels but relatively low prices, suggesting incremental usage growth now has less explanatory power for ether’s valuation.
The fee picture reinforces the disconnect. Data from DefiLlama shows Ethereum generated roughly $10.3 million in transaction fees over the past 30 days, placing it third behind Tron at nearly $25 million and Solana at about $20 million.
On a revenue basis, the gap widens further. Ethereum ranked fifth in 30-day protocol revenue at $1.22 million, trailing Tron as well as Polygon, Base and Solana. Base, an Ethereum layer-2 network built by Coinbase, generated roughly three times Ethereum’s protocol revenue over the same period.
The disparity reflects the growing role of Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem. Networks such as Base and Polygon process large volumes of transactions while paying relatively small settlement costs back to the base chain, distributing economic activity across the broader Ethereum ecosystem rather than concentrating it on the base layer.
Stablecoins remain a bright spot for adoption. Ethereum hosts approximately $162 billion in stablecoin supply, roughly 52% of the global market, according to DefiLlama. Yet that activity has not translated into proportional value capture for ether itself.
Ethereum may be busier than ever, but the blockchain’s native asset is capturing less of the value created on top of it.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/03/11/ethereum-network-activity-hits-record-highs-as-ether-price-and-fee-generation-lag
