Ethereum transaction fees surge even as active accounts fall to year-to-date lows

At the beginning of September, the average transaction fee on Ethereum ETH +0.43% had fallen below $1 USD for the first time since July, 2020, long before Ethereum's proof-of-stake Merge, blob upgrades, or even the launch of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection. 

However, in the past few weeks the seven-day moving average transaction fee on Ethereum has spiked. Its latest value, on September 2021, was $3.52, more than triple its value of $0.85 on Sep. 1, according to data from The Block. 

The recovery in transaction fees has also increased the burn rate of Ethereum , which has similarly spiked from a value of 80.27 eth on Sep. 1 to 1,360 eth on Sep. 21, a 1600% increase in just three weeks, according to The Block's data. 

Uniswap led the list of top gas-consuming smart contracts on the network in the last 30 days, along with its V2 variant, though also present on the list were Telegram-centric crypto and NFT trading bots Maestro and Banana Gun. Ether transfers and transactions involving stablecoins Tether (USDT) and Circle's USD Coin also made the list, according to The Block's data. 

Despite the spike in transaction fees and burns, the seven-day moving average of active accounts on the network has fallen significantly to its lowest value year-to-date in an 11% decrease from its value at the beginning of the month. The current value of about 385,000 accounts is the network's lowest value since Dec. 1, 2023. 

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap has faced renewed scrutiny across the crypto sphere in recent weeks, especially as the ratio of Ethereum to Bitcoin's market cap hit its lowest value since 2021 last week before recovering slightly. "No one likes Ethereum right now," Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said recently , before characterizing the chain as a "contrarian bet." 

Daily revenue for Ethereum stakers also recently hit a six-month low , The Block previously reported.