The activity of the Ethereum network has taken a new step at the beginning of 2025, the daily transaction volumes reaching an average of 1.74 million over a period of seven days, exceeding the previous record from May 2021 (1). This wave reflects a broader resurgence of the use of Ethereum, marked by a significant increase in active wallet addresses, with more than 683,000 unique wallets recorded on August 5, near the historic summit of 743,000 (1). July 2025 has become the most active month for Ethereum, with nearly 47 million transactions recorded on the network (1).
The renewal of decentralized finance (DEFI) played a central role in stimulating this growth. According to Min Jung of Presto Research, the resurgence of performance hunting strategies, treasury movements and agriculture fueled by stabbed were major contributors to increased volume on the chain (1). The Stablecoin USDE d’Ethena, which now has a market capitalization of $ 9 billion, played a decisive role in this trend after its integration with Aave (1).
Institutional interest in Ethereum is also increasing. Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, awarded this renewal enthusiasm to the increase in regulatory clarity in the United States and to the accumulation supported by major investors (1). The listed companies now hold more than $ 7.5 billion in Ethereum, further cement of its balance sheet role (1). The anticipation of potential ETF approvals for Ethereum has added to optimism surrounding the future of the network (1).
Developers and users return to Ethereum in significant number, designed by its established infrastructure, low gas costs and the proliferation of improved layer 2 layout solutions. The platform attracts a new wave of DEFI projects which takes advantage of its robust intelligent contract capacities to offer innovative financial services, in particular return agriculture, tokenized assets and jealous opportunities (1). This has led to a significant increase in the total locked value (TVL) and the participation of users on several protocols.
Ethereum’s ability to attract both retail and institutional trade participants is also demonstrated by its growing adoption as a basis for decentralized applications. The increase in active addresses indicates a strong user base and highlights the continuous domination of Ethereum in the intelligent contractual space, despite the emergence of faster and cheaper alternatives (1). The developers choose Ethereum for its composibility, its safety and the vast ecosystem of existing DAPPs which can be integrated into new projects.
The Renewal DEFI also stimulated innovation in the structures of Tokenomic and Governance. New projects experience incentive models designed to attract liquidity and stimulate user engagement. These developments have widened the scope of DEFI, with offers ranging from traditional loan and borrowing platforms to experimental financial products such as synthetic assets and prediction markets (1).
Strategic upgrades and continuous adoption of the next layer of consensus of Ethereum also contribute to the momentum of the network. These improvements should further reduce transaction costs and improve energy efficiency, strengthening Ethereum’s position as a key infrastructure for the decentralized web (1).
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