Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has recently experienced a surge in user activity on its blockchain network. According to a report from Analytex, the average gas price, calculated in gwei, increased by 29.27% in January 2023 compared to December 2022.
The report also showed a decrease in the number of unique active Ethereum wallets per day, down 10% to 387,475, the lowest in the past six months. However, there was an increase in the average number of unique active smart contracts, up 6.74%.
The growth in activity on the Ethereum blockchain is being driven in part by the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. A recent report from DappRadar showed a 26% increase in the total value locked across different staking pools in January 2023, reaching $74.6 billion in staked assets. The upcoming Shanghai upgrade for Ethereum is also driving growth in staking in DeFi, as it’s expected to open up withdrawals from Ethereum staking contracts. This has led to Lido Finance overtaking Maker DAO as the largest DeFi protocol in January, driven by the popularity of liquid staking derivative protocols.
Despite the increase in user activity, the report showed that the average number of blocks mined each day remained stable and the total block size per month increased by 7%. The average number of Ethereum transactions per day declined for eight months, with a decrease of 0.8% from December to January. The Merge, which was a highly anticipated event in the cryptocurrency world, did not have a major impact on the average number of blocks mined each day. In fact, the daily average block data remained stable at around 0.01% monthly following the merge.
This stability in block data, along with the increase in average gas cost prices and the rise in the number of unique active smart contracts, suggests a strengthening of the Ethereum network. The increase in interest from both current blockchain users and smart contract developers is a positive sign for the future growth of Ethereum. The recent rise in activity on the Ethereum blockchain, driven by DeFi protocols and the upcoming Shanghai upgrade, further highlights the growing interest in decentralized finance and blockchain technology. The stability of the Ethereum network, despite the increase in user activity, is a positive sign for the platform’s future growth and development.