Ethereum Clocks Record 2.88M Daily Transactions; Fees Flatline at $0.03

Volume decoupling from cost signals successful scaling via ‘Fusaka’ upgrade.

Ethereum processed a record-breaking 2,885,524 transactions on January 16, yet gas fees remained negligible at 0.028 gwei (<$0.01), a decoupling of volume and cost that validates the network’s recent scaling roadmap. While Etherscan data confirms the unprecedented throughput, the fee market has refused to react, trading in stark contrast to the $100+ spikes seen during the 2021 bull run.

Ether (ETH) traded at $3,217 (-3%) Monday morning, shrugging off the fundamental milestone as broader markets cooled.

The network is processing double its 2024 volume, but the fee meter isn’t moving. This is the first stress test the Fusaka upgrade has aced.

The ‘Fusaka’ Effect

The anomaly, record usage with zero congestion, stems directly from the recent activation of Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) in the Fusaka hard fork. By raising the blob target to 14, Ethereum has effectively pushed data costs for Layer 2 rollups to near-zero, freeing up mainnet capacity for complex execution. Data from Blockchair shows the top five busiest days in Ethereum history all occurred between January 13 and January 17, 2026, without a single instance of gas exceeding 5 gwei.

Stablecoins are driving the bulk of this activity. Standard Chartered notes that USDT and USDC transfers now account for nearly 40% of all mainnet volume, signaling a shift from speculative NFT minting to high-velocity settlement.

Validators Lock In

Institutional confidence appears absolute. The staking exit queue hit zero this week, meaning not a single validator is currently waiting to unstake their ETH. Conversely, the entry queue has swelled to 2.6 million ETH, creating a 45-day backlog for new capital trying to enter the system.

With 29% of the total supply now locked in staking contracts, the supply shock is deepening even as the network processes more economic value than ever before.