Decrypt: Ethereum Sets Record Usage
Insights provided to Decrypt in response to Ethereum record usage as costs fall, and Vitalik Buterin warning that Ethereum has accumulated protocol bloat
Ethereum is seeing record usage as costs fall and network conditions ease. Vitalik Buterin, meanwhile has warned that Ethereum has accumulated protocol bloat, meaning added features, layers, and exceptions that increase complexity, maintenance risk, and long-term fragility.
Featured by Decrypt, we dipped into the Eth stats we collect to provide some colour on these recent developments:
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"Over the past two weeks, compared with the two weeks prior, Ethereum’s average daily transactions rose by 14% from 1.8 million to 2.1 million, even as fees and gas prices fell sharply, according to onchain Ethereum data collected by Blockscout.
This simultaneous rise in throughput and fall in cost reflects the success of Ethereum’s modular scaling architecture, particularly EIP-4844 and its recent blob-capacity upgrade, which allows Layer 2s to post more data to mainnet at far lower cost.
Most of today’s usage is driven by stablecoin transfers and payments, led by Tether at roughly twice the volume of Circle’s USDC. With gas prices remaining low, this activity appears highly durable, aligning with the broader trend of mainstream payment integrations expanding across Ethereum-based rails.
Validator dynamics further reinforce this picture of network health. Virtually no validator exits suggest a balance between operating costs and staking rewards, a sign of stability and confidence. It also implies that stakers are accumulating rather than exiting, keeping capital committed and liquid for future flexibility in higher-volatility environments.
Vitalik Buterin’s warning about protocol bloat should be read as a forward-looking governance concern rather than an alarm.
Every mature software system accumulates some complexity as it evolves; Ethereum is no different. While such “bloat” doesn’t hinder current performance, it makes continued optimization essential. The data proves Ethereum can now scale sustainably, Vitalik’s point is that it must also simplify sustainably to preserve long-term resilience and agility."
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