Despite the weak performance of ETH, the Ethereum network itself had a much more confident first half of the year than one might assume from the token’s chart. The price stayed mostly around $1,700, but activity within the ecosystem continued to grow.
According to Token Terminal, the first quarter of 2026 was especially strong for Ethereum. The network set a new record for daily transactions. On certain days, up to 3.6 million transfers went through Ethereum, and the number of active wallets reached about 600,000 per day.
In other words, interest in the infrastructure itself has not disappeared. Ethereum remains one of the main platforms for DeFi, stablecoin transfers, lending services, and other on-chain applications. Trading activity may have slowed, but other areas partially made up for it.
Peak transaction activity on the Ethereum network in the first half of the year after another fee reduction. Source: Etherscan
Token Terminal’s estimate shows that about $316.2 billion is currently locked in Ethereum ecosystem applications and storage. This figure grew by more than 22% over the quarter.
This is an important signal for the network. Even with a weak ETH, users continue to keep capital in protocols, borrow and lend, provide liquidity, and participate in airdrop farming.
An additional factor was the latest Ethereum upgrade. After it, fees dropped again, making small transactions more accessible for retail users. This is a plus for the network, as high gas costs had long been one of the main complaints about Ethereum.
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But the growth in activity cannot be considered pure demand. Some transactions may have been linked to dust attacks. In such cases, attackers send small amounts of cryptocurrency to wallets to later track user actions or use other attack schemes.
Against this backdrop, reports of personal wallet hacks have increased. Therefore, some network activity looks ambiguous. On the one hand, Ethereum is indeed processing more operations. On the other hand, not all these operations indicate healthy ecosystem growth.
Can Ethereum Maintain Its Current Momentum?
The main surge in activity occurred in the first quarter, but some momentum carried into the second. One of the main growth areas was tokenized real-world assets, or RWA.
This is a particularly important segment for Ethereum. The network has long been used as a base for DeFi, but now assets from traditional finance are attracting more attention. This includes stablecoins, funds, commodities, stocks, and other instruments being moved to blockchain format.
According to the source, 1,058 assets have already been tokenized on Ethereum. The number of holders of such instruments reached 199,156 people. In just the last month, this figure grew by about 11%.
Activity in the RWA segment is also increasing. Over the past 30 days, the number of transactions with tokenized assets grew by more than 30%. Most categories in this sector show growth compared to last year.
| Asset Class | Market Capitalization | Change for the Quarter | Change for the Year |
| All Tokenized Assets | $203.4 billion | -0.7% | +42.9% |
| Stablecoins | $178.9 billion | -2.3% | +37.6% |
| Tokenized Funds | $19.4 billion | +4.9% | +73.1% |
| Tokenized Commodities | $4.7 billion | +60.0% | +325.9% |
| Tokenized Stocks | $365.1 million | +16.5% | — |
In the first half of the year, Ethereum went through a restructuring. The ecosystem was affected by the departure of several prominent engineers who had long contributed to the network’s development.
Now Ethereum needs to maintain several directions at once. The network is counting on institutional players, the return of retail users, and demand for DeFi applications.
Another important point relates to large financial operations. Ethereum is trying to show that a public network can be more convenient than closed corporate blockchains. It allows settlements, asset issuance, and management without separate private infrastructure.
Analysts at Etherealize believe that openness remains one of Ethereum’s main advantages. Users can see transactions, developers can connect to the existing ecosystem, and financial applications operate in a single shared environment.
Will the Success of the Ethereum Network Affect the Price of ETH?
As of June 18, ETH was trading around $1,748. At the same time, the token’s price still looks weak. In the second quarter, ETH lost 17.2%, and in the first quarter, it fell by another 29.1%.
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Interest in the derivatives market also declined. Open interest in ETH fell from over $17 billion to about $10 billion in the first half of the year.
Sentiment around Ethereum remains subdued. The fear and greed index spent most of the time between the neutral and negative zones.
Retail investors were also in no hurry to return to ETH. In June, activity among large holders noticeably decreased. The volume of large on-chain transfers fell by about 86%, indicating a wait-and-see approach by whales.
For now, there is a gap between the network and the token. Ethereum remains a sought-after infrastructure, but ETH itself is not receiving strong market support.
Project supporters believe this could change. Their argument is simple: the more financial operations go through Ethereum, the higher the potential demand for ETH.
There are especially high expectations for banks, funds, and other major players. If they start using Ethereum more actively for tokenization, settlements, and DeFi instruments, this could support the token’s price.
