Ethereum

Ethereum Daily Transactions Break 4-Year Range above 1.6 Million

Rising gas use and NFT activity confirm Ethereum’s expanding role beyond swaps into broader decentralized finance infra.

Ethereum (ETH) has broken through a major limit. For four years, daily transactions on the network held within a span of 900,000 to 1.2 million. However, the range is finally broken as the protocol now records 1.6 million to 1.7 million daily transactions.

The steady rise shows that Ethereum’s usage is expanding despite market chaos, with data from Etherscan confirming the same upward flow and showing sustained transaction heights that now surpass previous years.

Activity Spikes as Ethereum Leads DeFi Momentum

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost measured the activity using a 14-day simple moving average to account for normal volatility, with the recent jump to 1.6-1.7 million marking a major departure from this long-standing pattern.

He related the surge to the pressure of decentralized finance (DeFi) growth, with Ethereum serving as both a liquidity support, a lending platform, and a stablecoin transfer. This rapid expansion in on-chain activity also demonstrates a documented correlation with the price of ETH, providing a fundamental basis for its market performance.

The data shows that even during a period of negative sentiment in late March, the network was already processing a higher average of 1.2 million transactions per day, setting the stage for the current breakout.

Furthermore, IntoTheBlock previously indicated increasing gas consumption on the main chain as a signal of higher smart contract activity. Meanwhile, other reports also revealed that stablecoin flows on Ethereum have accelerated. This represents a trend that directly supports the rising transaction count.

The upswing is not just about token swaps. Data from CryptoSlam show there’s been a surge in ETH-based NFT sales, with minting and rollup settlements contributing to the spike.

Accumulation, Reserves, and Long-term Impact

Ethereum’s network growth is happening at a time its native ETH token is showing quite strength. The asset surged by double digits since the start of the week to over $4,400 at one point.

There is also growing institutional interest, with a separate report indicating that digital asset treasury companies now hold a larger percentage of the total ETH supply (4%) than they do of Bitcoin (3%), suggesting a possible shift in preference among corporate balance sheets.

The combination of strong on-chain activity and a successful price breakout above $4,000 has analysts charting ambitious paths forward. One trader, Merlijn, described the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency’s long-term price structure as a “ladder,” with the recent move establishing a new base for future advances.

His analysis pointed to an ascending channel that projects potential targets at $6,500, $8,000, and even $10,000. At the same time, other market watchers are keeping a close eye on key resistance levels. They have identified the $4,350 zone as a significant barrier that, if overcome, could open the path toward $4,790.

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Ethereum

Ethereum Derivatives Traders Position for $4K Rebound, Data Shows

Ethereum ( ETH) derivatives traders are back in full swing, with open interest, volume, and options activity all flashing signs of renewed energy across futures and options markets. ETH Max Pain Sits Near $3,300 as Traders Eye Key Expiry Levels At 10 a.m. Eastern time on Nov…
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Ethereum

ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract Now Controls 60% Of All Ethereum: Arkham

Rain Lohmus bought $75,000 worth of ETH in 2014, which is now worth $871 million. Yet, he cannot move even a single coin.

New on-chain research from Arkham Intelligence this week shows that the wallet address holding the most ETH today is not an individual, not an exchange, not an ETF issuer, but the staking contract that secures Ethereum.

According to Arkham, the ETH2 Beacon Deposit Contract currently holds more than 72.4 million ETH, worth around $252 billion at current market prices, and represents approximately 60% of the total supply.

Ethereum’s Power Center

In terms of individuals, the research firm confirmed that the largest known individual holder of ETH is still Rain Lohmus, the founder of Estonian bank LHV, who bought 250,000 ETH in the 2014 presale for around $75,000. Those coins would now be worth roughly $871 million, but Lohmus does not have access to them because he lost the private keys years ago.

The second largest identifiable individual holder is Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who currently holds around 240,000 ETH, worth around $840 million.

Beyond individual wallets, centralized exchanges and institutional entities collectively control some of the largest pools of Ether. Binance, for one, holds approximately 4.09 million ETH, while asset manager BlackRock holds around 3.94 million ETH, largely associated with its iShares Ethereum Trust ETF. Coinbase is the next largest institutional holder, with approximately 3.5 million ETH across multiple addresses, including cold wallets and staking reserves for its cbETH staking token.

Following suit are Upbit, Robinhood, Kraken, OKX, and Bitfinex, which appear among the top institutional holders.

Seized Funds, Stolen Funds, and Layer-2 Bridges

Arkham found that governments also appear on the leaderboard. For instance, the United States government controls around 60,000 ETH, which largely consists of seized criminal funds, including from the Potapenko/Turogin case and from seizures related to the Bitfinex hacker.

Ethereum

Ethereum Traders Just Flipped Bullish, But History Says This Is a Major Red Flag

Ethereum’s bounce toward $3,500 triggered instant FOMO, but Santiment says extreme optimism usually means price is about to disappoint.

Ethereum traders have swung sharply from extreme bearishness to extreme bullishness within just a few days, based on social media sentiment.

But fresh data suggest that when ETH nearly rebounded to $3,500 on Thursday, the crowd interpreted the move as a confirmation that the asset was “back in business.”

ETH Trader FOMO

Santiment warned that this sudden pivot is similar to the same pattern seen earlier in the week, when retail panic selling actually contributed to the rebound. Now, the rapid return of FOMO could similarly stall further upside.

According to the analytics platform, prices have shown a tendency to move in the opposite direction of the crowd, and that more neutral sentiment phases have proven to be stronger buy signal environments than euphoric ones.

Crypto trader Ted Pillows also noted that even though the altcoin is showing some rebound after this week’s sharp decline, the recovery lacks conviction. According to Pillows, the current move higher, though modest, is being driven largely by short positions being closed rather than new spot buyers stepping in. He added that Ethereum needs to reclaim the $3,600-$3,700 price range with meaningful inflows to establish strength and dismiss the risk of further downside. Without that confirmation, Pillows believes the odds still favor lower prices from here.

Despite the near-term uncertainty, some traders say the bigger picture is still pointing toward a substantial upside scenario. For instance, crypto trader “Trader Tradigrade” said that ETH’s monthly chart is currently developing what he describes as a massive Inverse Head and Shoulders pattern, with a potential price target of $14,000 once confirmed.

“Wet Blanket” Phase

As the crypto market remains sluggish, Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz believes that this could be due to long-term holders rebalancing their net worths and diversifying away from massive concentrated holdings after a very long bull market. Novogratz deems this to be a healthy sign in the medium and long term as these positions get distributed. In the short run, however, he said that “it’s a proverbial wet blanket” and has weighed on prices.

About the author

Chayanika has been working as a financial journalist for six years. A graduate in Political Science and Journalism, her interest lies in regulatory implications with a focus on technological evolution in the crypto realm.