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While BTC and ETH have been unable to flip nearby resistance levels into support, Ethereum’s on-chain activity has continued to rise sharply. In February 2026, daily active addresses on the Ethereum network surpassed 700,000—levels that exceed the peaks recorded during the 2021 bull market.
Despite this strength in network usage, ETH has fallen by roughly 30% over the past six months and is trading near the $2,000 level. The result is a widening gap between Ethereum’s activity metrics and ETH’s market valuation.
According to CryptoQuant, smart contract calls topped 40 million per day in February 2026. Token transfers driven by internal contract interactions also reached record levels. CryptoQuant attributed the surge to broad adoption across decentralized finance, stablecoins, and automated protocol activity rather than a single catalyst.
Daily active addresses averaged 837,200 on a 30-day moving average. This was reported as up 82% from five years ago and approximately 1,100% from a decade prior. New wallet creation reached 284,800 per day, a 64% increase from five years ago.
More than 37.7 million ETH is currently staked, which reduces circulating supply, while liquid staking protocols continue to provide users access to those funds.
The on-chain gains have not translated into price support. The article notes that ETH’s one-year change in realized capitalization has turned negative, and that Ethereum is moving to trading venues at a faster rate relative to Bitcoin—an observed pattern consistent with elevated selling pressure.
CryptoQuant analysis described recent data clustering at high activity levels but relatively low price levels. It said this suggests incremental usage growth is now less explanatory for ETH’s valuation than it was in prior cycles. The report contrasts this with 2018 and 2021, when rising on-chain activity coincided with price rallies, a relationship it says has weakened materially.
Adding to the pressure, the article states that a large Ethereum whale has been offloading substantial ETH holdings during the same period of peak network activity.
Data cited from DefiLlama shows Ethereum generated roughly $10.3 million in transaction fees over the past 30 days. This places it third behind Tron at nearly $25 million and Solana at approximately $20 million. The same source indicates that Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network, generated roughly three times Ethereum’s protocol revenue over the same period.
The article argues that the success of Ethereum’s infrastructure may be contributing to “cannibalization” of base-layer economics.
A meaningful ETH recovery, the article says, would likely require capital flow dynamics to reverse. It highlights accelerating exchange outflows and realized capitalization returning to positive territory as key conditions.
It also points to protocol-level catalysts on Ethereum’s 2026 roadmap, emphasizing evidence-based scaling alongside continued L2 growth, which could provide narrative support if delivered on schedule.
On the downside, the article warns that if fee revenue stagnation persists and L2 fragmentation deepens without a mechanism to redirect value back to the base layer, the activity-driven bull case may lose support. It notes that stablecoin settlement volumes and DeFi TVL—reported to have peaked above $56 billion during the week of March 2–8 before easing—could weaken alongside prices.
Record usage without fee capture and without capital inflows is described as a different kind of record than Ethereum’s proponents anticipated, leaving open the question of whether the market ultimately prices the infrastructure or continues pricing the flows.
Coinspeaker states it is committed to unbiased and transparent reporting. The article is intended to provide accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Market conditions can change rapidly, and readers are encouraged to verify information and consult a professional before making decisions.
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