Ethereum processed a record 203.9 million transactions in Q2 2026, up 68.4% year over year, while monthly active users fell 30% to 9.2 million. Staking and onchain fees also hit records even as the token slid toward $1,500 during the quarter before recovering above $2,500 by mid-September.
Ethereum's base layer did more work with fewer people in the second quarter. The network processed a record 203.9 million transactions, according to data from Token Terminal, up 68.4% from a year earlier. Average throughput climbed to an all-time high of 25.9 transactions per second.
Yet monthly active users fell 30% quarter over quarter to 9.2 million, a decline that runs counter to the rising transaction count. The gap suggests a smaller pool of participants, likely including bots, automated trading systems and infrastructure providers settling transactions on behalf of layer 2 networks, is driving an outsized share of activity rather than a broadening base of new users.
Fees and burn point to firming demand
Onchain fees rose 31.6% over the quarter to $52.5 million. ETH burn revenue, the portion of fees permanently removed from circulating supply, jumped 112% to $17.1 million. Both increases indicate the transactions moving through the network in Q2 carried more economic weight than the equivalent volume a year earlier.
Staking also set records. The proportion of staked ETH reached 32%, an all-time high, while the number of addresses holding ETH climbed to 312.1 million, also a record. Rising staking participation removes ETH from immediate circulation, a dynamic some traders read as a supply-side tailwind independent of transaction activity.
Tokenized assets on Ethereum averaged about $203.1 billion in market value during the quarter. Stablecoins accounted for the bulk of that figure at roughly $176.8 billion, with tokenized funds contributing a further $20.8 billion, underscoring Ethereum's continued role as a settlement rail for onchain dollar and fund products.
Usage climbed, but price did not follow
The record activity did not translate into price strength during the quarter itself. ETH fell from around $2,400 in early April to lows near $1,500 by June, a decline that unfolded alongside the rising transaction count, staking rate and burn revenue described above. That gap between usage and price echoes a pattern seen in the first quarter of 2026, when a record transaction count similarly failed to lift the token.
The price has since recovered, with ETH trading above $2,500 by mid-September, though whether that move reflects growing confidence in the fundamentals shown in the Q2 data or a broader crypto market rebound is not yet clear. Whether the pattern reflects a maturing, institution-heavy phase of adoption or a genuine narrowing of user growth will likely depend on whether active user counts stabilize through the third quarter.
Source: InvestingLive
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