ETH’s price isn’t the only metric trending up

ETH onchain is slowly coming back while Crypto Twitter’s falling in love with a new flavor of gambling

article-image

scoutori/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Ethereum is having its moment in the spotlight, and while its performance has been attributed to flows from digital asset treasury companies (DATCOs) and ETFs, its price wasn’t the only metric that hit an all-time high. For the second consecutive month, ETH’s price action was accompanied by record levels of perp volume. August saw nearly $2 trillion in volume, 30% more than July’s $1.5 trillion.

August also marked Ethereum’s highest DA usage ever, and its market share increased from ~53% in July to 63% in August. However, since the blob target of six still hasn’t been hit (average of 4.17 in August vs. 4.13 in July), the cost of blobs remains extremely low (near one wei). In the upcoming Fusaka upgrade, a “floor price” will be implemented to help address this issue.

Thanks to a 50% increase in the gas limit YTD, monthly active addresses (MAAs) also hit an all-time high of 16.8 million (a 12.7% increase from July’s 14.9 million) while transaction count followed suit with ~51.7 million (an 11% increase MoM). 

And just in case you were wondering why Ethereum has the stablecoin narrative — the stablecoin supply on Ethereum reached $163 billion, a new all-time high and the highest among any chain. Stablecoin transfer volume on Ethereum also hit an all-time high in August, rising 17% MoM to $1.43 trillion (vs. $1.23 trillion in July). This marked the second month on record with (filtered) transfer volumes over $1 trillion.

Maybe flows alone aren’t telling the full story?


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 24 - 26, 2026

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

allora-image.png

Research

Decentralized AI coordination networks solve crypto's growing architectural mismatch: applications built on trustless infrastructure shouldn't depend on centralized intelligence providers. By turning model outputs into competitive marketplaces, protocols like Allora are building the permissionless intelligence layer that AI-powered DeFi and autonomous agents require.

article-image

Ethereum rolls out Fusaka, setting the stage for a stronger blob fee market and renewed deflationary potential

article-image

Futuristic DeFi is stuck inside the computer. An old idea might be its escape hatch

article-image

Money market indicators are flashing liquidity stress again as crypto underperforms equities

article-image

From passageways to penumbras: a history of private life

article-image

BTC’s Asia-session move and Ethena’s weaker yields reflect a market adjusting to tighter yen funding and softer derivatives carry

article-image

What Monad’s launch, MegaETH pre-market pricing, and the Berachain refund story say about today’s infra market