Ethereum transaction activity reaches all-time high, but ETH price and fees remain sluggish

ChainCatcher report, according to CoinDesk, a report from CryptoQuant shows that despite Ethereum network activity reaching all-time highs, ETH price and underlying fee revenue have lagged. In February, Ethereum’s daily active addresses neared 2 million, with over 40 million smart contract calls—both exceeding the 2021 bull market peaks. However, ETH’s price has declined by approximately 30% over the past six months, and its realized market cap turned negative for the first time in a year, indicating net capital outflows. Exchange flow data shows ETH is moving to centralized exchanges faster relative to Bitcoin, reflecting increased selling pressure. CryptoQuant believes current capital flows, rather than network activity, better explain ETH’s price dynamics, as the correlation between activity growth and valuation has weakened. In terms of fees, Ethereum generated approximately $10.3 million in transaction fees over the past 30 days—below Tron’s $25 million and Solana’s $20 million—and ranks fifth in protocol revenue, behind Tron, Polygon, Base, and Solana. Although Ethereum hosts about $162 billion in stablecoin supply (52% of the global total), its ability to capture value has declined as economic activity becomes dispersed across Layer 2 ecosystems.