Ethereum daily transactions reach new high, surpassing 2021 peak as stablecoins and ETH treasuries steer growth

Ethereum's daily transactions, by a seven-day moving average, reached a new all-time high of 1.74 million on Aug. 5. This surpassed the previous record of 1.65 million set on May 12, 2021, according to The Block's data.

July also saw the largest monthly number of transactions in the network's history, with a total of 46.67 million transactions.

Moreover, the number of active addresses on Ethereum surged to 683,520 on Aug. 5, chasing the all-time high record of 743,730 on May 12, 2021.

"Ethereum’s daily transaction count hitting an all-time high reflects a surge in DeFi activity, with stablecoins at the center of it," said Min Jung, analyst at Presto Research. "Growing interest in yield strategies—especially in anticipation of a rate cut—has led to more on-chain transactions, from point farming to treasury deployments." 

Jung pointed to Ethena's USDe, which recently surpassed $9 billion in market capitalization in just weeks after partnering with DeFi lending protocol Aave.

Kronos Research CIO Vincent Liu added that interest in Ethereum is boosted by U.S. efforts for regulatory clarity for crypto and institutional accumulation.

Dozens of companies have recently adopted Ethereum treasury strategies to diversify their balance sheets and attract investors seeking exposure to digital assets. The cumulative public company holdings of ETH have reached a value of above $7.5 billion. 

Meanwhile, Ethereum's surge in onchain activity is not yet completely factored into ETH's price, according to Liu.

"The ETH price is moving more cautiously," Liu said. "There's growing confidence behind the scenes, but markets are still calibrating."

Liu added that further upside in price and onchain activity could be unlocked by the approval of Ethereum staking ETFs, which would allow ETH to become a yield-bearing asset for institutions.

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