Ethereum L1 Transactions Hit 2.2m A Day; Each Costs About 17 Cents

Ethereum transactions were the most costly in May 2022 when fees were over $200 per transaction on average. They have been declining since.

The Ethereum mainnet clocked 2.2 million transactions in a single day in a new record this week, while fees have fallen to just 17 cents on average.

The layer-1 blockchain recorded its new transaction milestone on Tuseday, according to block explorer Etherscan.  Transaction fees have also dropped considerably over time.

The highest transaction fees on Ethereum were recorded in May 2022, when users had to spend over $200 per transaction.

However, continued upgrades have dropped fees considerably, despite continued growth of the network’s usage.

Fees have also been on the decline since Oct.10, when they were around $8.48, during the significant liquidation event that saw the entire market bleed.

Higher Ethereum fees have historically pushed users to cheaper alternatives such as layer 2s, but the growing transactions on the mainnet indicate a return to the layer 1 blockchain and rising usage among crypto users.

Meanwhile, developers are increasingly choosing Ethereum as a settlement layer, with data from Token Terminal showing the number of new smart contracts created and published on the Ethereum blockchain reached a high of 8.7 million in the fourth quarter.

The Ethereum blockchain underwent significant changes in 2025, with two upgrades that likely contributed to the spike in transactions and drop in fees.

Related: BitMine bags $98M in ETH as year-end selling caps gains: Tom Lee

Source: CoinTelegraph