Ethereum blockchain beats its own speed-ups, but there's a catch

MEVictim · 2026-01-23T14:20:13+00:00

Ethereum has surged in daily activity, surpassing cheaper Layer 2 networks in user engagement. However, not all activity indicates true demand, raising questions about the sustainability of this growth.

MEVictim

2026-01-23 14:20:13

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Source: CryptoNewsNet Original Title: Ethereum blockchain beats its own speed-ups, but there’s a catch Original Link: https://cryptonews.net/news/security/32325404/ Ethereum, the smart contract blockchain, now handles more daily activity than its cheaper side chains, called Layer 2 networks. But this comeback has a catch – not all of that Ethereum activity appears to reflect genuine user demand.

The number of daily active addresses on Ethereum climbed toward the 1 million mark earlier this month, briefly peaking above 1.3 million on Jan. 16 before settling closer to 950,000, according to data source Token Terminal.

That puts Ethereum ahead of popular scaling networks such as Arbitrum, Base and OP Mainnet, reversing much of the narrative that users had permanently migrated off L1.

Active addresses are the unique blockchain wallets that make transactions, like sending, receiving cryptocurrencies, or interacting with smart contracts, in a given time period, let’s say daily. Analysts track the metric to study the real network usage beyond the token price hype.

ETH0,03%

ARB0,73%

OP-1%

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