TLDR
- Daily active addresses on Ethereum reached approximately 2 million in February 2026, exceeding 2021 bull run records
- Despite unprecedented usage growth, ETH has declined roughly 30% in the last six months
- In 30-day fee rankings, Ethereum sits in third place, trailing both Tron and Solana
- Base and other layer-2 solutions are generating higher revenue than Ethereum’s main network
- On March 10, Ethereum spot ETFs registered $12.59 million in combined net inflows with no outflows from any of the nine funds
The Ethereum network is experiencing unprecedented levels of usage. Unfortunately for holders, the price of ether (ETH) hasn’t followed suit.
According to a March 10 analysis from blockchain analytics platform CryptoQuant, Ethereum’s daily active addresses approached 2 million during February 2026. This milestone exceeded the highest levels recorded during the 2021 cryptocurrency bull run.
Daily smart contract interactions surpassed 40 million. Token transfer volumes also reached new highs. This heightened activity encompasses decentralized finance applications, stablecoin transactions, and automated protocol interactions.
Despite this surge in network utilization, ETH’s value has tumbled approximately 30% during the past half-year. This represents a departure from historical trends, where increased blockchain activity typically correlated with upward price movement.
According to CryptoQuant’s analysis, capital movement patterns now serve as better price indicators than network usage metrics. Exchange flow analytics reveal ether arriving at trading venues more rapidly than bitcoin, suggesting intensifying sell-side pressure.
Additionally, the year-over-year change in Ethereum’s realized capitalization has entered negative territory. This metric indicates net capital withdrawal from the ecosystem rather than accumulation.
Ethereum Losing Fee Revenue to Rivals
When it comes to fee generation, Ethereum is losing ground to competitors. According to DefiLlama statistics, Ethereum collected approximately $10.3 million in transaction fees during the last 30 days. Tron topped the rankings with nearly $25 million, while Solana secured second place with roughly $20 million.
In terms of protocol revenue specifically, Ethereum ranked fifth with only $1.22 million. Meanwhile, Base, a layer-2 scaling solution developed by Coinbase on Ethereum infrastructure, generated approximately triple the protocol revenue of Ethereum’s main layer during the identical timeframe.
Layer-2 platforms handle transaction processing and return minimal settlement fees to the Ethereum mainnet. This architecture distributes economic value throughout the broader ecosystem instead of channeling it to the base blockchain.
While Ethereum maintains approximately $162 billion in stablecoin circulation — representing roughly 52% of the worldwide market — this commanding position hasn’t driven additional value accrual to ETH tokens.
ETH Price Forecasts and ETF Activity
Cryptocurrency forecasting service CoinCodex projects ETH could surpass $3,000 by May 2026. Their machine learning algorithm indicates the price maintaining support above $2,000 throughout most of the year, potentially peaking around $3,673.
Achieving that upper target from present price levels would deliver approximately 90% returns. The model forecasts ETH trading near $2,477 by December 2026, representing a projected 28% gain.
The only thing we need right now is for this area to remain a manipulation wick. If we get a strong candle close, our next target is $3K.
After that, a small retrace (what I consider the final entry opportunity), followed by ATH.
The plan is simple.
Everything’s been… https://t.co/f98ioGEdar pic.twitter.com/VV5NjW3cBC— Alien OPS (@alienopstrading) March 10, 2026
For March 10, Ethereum spot ETF products logged combined net inflows totaling $12.59 million. None of the nine available ETFs experienced net outflows on that trading day.
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