For years, using Ethereum (ETH) seemed expensive and out of reach for many people.
During the 2021 bull market and 2024 NFT boom, even a basic transaction could cost around $50, while more complex actions often cost much more.
These high fees showed how popular Ethereum had become, but they also kept many users away.
This situation has now changed. Since January 2026, Ethereum gas fees have fallen to $0.01, according to Etherscan data.
Source: Etherscan
This decline is not due to fewer people using Ethereum. This is the result of major technical developments.
Following the Fusaka upgrade in late 2025, the deployment of PeerDAS, and widespread Layer 2 adoption, Ethereum has resolved congestion on its mainnet.
What was once a costly and cluttered system now functions as a fast and efficient settlement layer.
Is Ethereum the new Solana?
This change also changed Ethereum’s competition with Solana (SOL). Solana was known for being cheap and fast, but Ethereum now offers similarly low fees.
The comparison is therefore no longer just a question of cost.
Ethereum focuses on security and decentralization, while Solana prioritizes speed with a more demanding configuration. Solana is still faster for certain use cases, but Ethereum’s low fees remove the primary reason users left the system.
However, lower fees come with a trade-off.
Ethereum burns a portion of each transaction fee, and when fees were high, the supply of ETH often decreased. With fees now very low, the combustion has slowed and ETH is slightly inflationary at the moment.
The most important signal is usage.
On January 17, 2026, Ethereum processed 2.6 million transactions in a single day, a new record. In the past, this level of activity would have caused traffic jams and high fees.
This time the network ran smoothly, showing that Ethereum can now handle very high usage without becoming expensive again. This fundamental strength is beginning to be reflected in the markets.
Market reaction
At press time, ETH was trading at $3,319.87, continuing a steady rise with a 0.62% gain over the past 24 hours. On the other hand, its main rival, SOL, is feeling the heat.
Despite its own robust ecosystem, SOL was currently trading at $142.26, down 1.23% over the same period.
In fact, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, also recently stated that the original Web3 architecture, first described in 2014 and long considered a distant roadmap, is now a working reality.
Overall, in 2026, Ethereum is not just evolving; it’s coming home.
Final Thoughts
- Ethereum has finally become cheap enough for everyday use without sacrificing scale or security.
- This change is structural, not temporary, as upgrades like Fusaka, PeerDAS, and mature Layer 2s have permanently decluttered the mainnet.
