Ethereum has reached a historic milestone as new wallet creation surged to record levels. According to on-chain analytics platform Santiment, the network recorded an average of 327,100 new wallets per day over the past week. On January 11, Ethereum saw nearly 393,600 new wallets created in a single day, the highest daily increase ever recorded for the blockchain.
The surge in new addresses comes after a challenging period for Ethereum, which recently experienced price consolidation and market uncertainty. The record growth shows strong network adoption despite sideways trading.
Fusaka upgrade reduces costs and friction
A key factor behind the spike in wallet creation is Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade, which launched in early December 2025. The update improved how base-layer data is handled and lowered the cost for Layer-2 networks to post information back to Ethereum.
“This upgrade made transactions cheaper and smoother for users interacting with apps through rollups,” Santiment noted.
Reduced fees and lower friction have encouraged new participants to open wallets and explore the network’s applications.
📈 BREAKING: Ethereum's new wallet growth has reached new all-time high levels. Over the past week, crypto's #2 market cap has seen an average of 327.1K new $ETH wallets created per day, including a 393.6K day Sunday (the highest ever).
— Santiment (@santimentfeed) January 13, 2026
📊 There can be several reasons attributed… pic.twitter.com/zD1YcOV3wO
The average gas fee on the network dropped to 0.051 Gwei, which made it even more appealing for new users to make transactions. Lower costs and streamlined operations often lead to increased onboarding, especially among retail users exploring decentralized finance, games, and NFT projects.
Stablecoin activity drives real usage
The Record stablecoin transactions on Ethereum have reinforced the network’s utility beyond trading. In the fourth quarter of 2025, stablecoin transfers hit an all-time high of about $8 trillion. This indicates that there is considerable demand for Ethereum as a settlement layer.
High transaction volumes indicate that new wallets are not merely speculative. Users opened addresses to send, receive, or hold stablecoins and other tokens, which constitutes real financial activity. Daily transactions and active addresses are still close to their highest levels, which supports continued network engagement.
Institutional involvement continues as well. Companies like BitMine have put up nearly $4 billion worth of ETH, which shows that they believe in the network for the long term. SharpLink Gaming got more attention and got over 865,000 ETH, which is worth about $2.75 billion, and put $170 million into the Linea Layer-2 network.
Adoption grows despite price stability
Ethereum’s price remained relatively stable in recent weeks, trading mostly between $3,000 and $3,300. Even though there hasn't been a big rise, new addresses keep showing up, which suggests that adoption is driven by interest in how the network works rather than by people trying to make money by trading.
Market sentiment shows improvement. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index moved from “Fear” to “Neutral,” which supports a more optimistic environment for users and investors. ETH price has risen by almost 8% recently, reaching an average of $3,295 at press time, while the global crypto market cap climbed over 4% to $3.25 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Decentralized exchanges and derivatives show calmer conditions
While wallet growth accelerated, trading on decentralized exchanges has slowed. DefiLlama data shows DEX volumes over the past two weeks totaled $150.4 billion, down from a $340 billion record in January 2025. Seven-day Ethereum DEX volumes averaged $9 billion, compared with a peak of $27.8 billion in October.
Derivatives markets signal reduced short-term volatility. The 30-day implied volatility of Bitcoin and Ether went down, which means that traders think the price swings will be less extreme. A stable environment for network users can be created by lower volatility, which can lead to more wallet creation and long-term investment.
Future prospects for Ethereum
The recent surge in wallet creation is a clear sign of expanding user adoption. While ETH price movements remain range-bound, network activity continues to build quietly. This could lay the groundwork for significant mid-to-long-term growth, both in adoption and value.
Ethereum’s combination of technical upgrades, real financial activity, and renewed user interest indicates a maturing ecosystem. Users and institutions appear ready to participate actively, suggesting Ethereum could play an increasingly central role in decentralized finance and digital asset markets.
Anastasiia G
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