- Ethereum recorded all-time highs in active users, transactions, and throughput during Q1 2026.
- Layer-1 fees fell nearly 48% as increased network capacity lowered transaction costs across the ecosystem.
- Growth in tokenized assets, stablecoins, and staking continued despite declines in TVL, trading volume, and ETH valuation.
Ethereum recorded its highest activity levels in Q1 2026, while network fees declined, according to Token Terminal’s Ethereum Q1 2026 Report. The report showed rising users, transactions, and throughput on Ethereum’s layer-1 during the quarter. However, market value, total value locked, trading volume, and application fees fell as asset prices weakened.
Ecosystem Activity Grows
According to Token Terminal, Ethereum’s ecosystem total value locked averaged $316.2 billion in Q1 2026. The figure dropped 11% from the previous quarter but increased 22.8% year over year.
Meanwhile, active loans reached $21.8 billion, down 16.6% quarterly. However, lending remained higher than a year earlier, with Aave holding the largest share of Ethereum’s lending market.
Decentralized exchange trading volume totaled $134.5 billion during the quarter. Uniswap handled about $85.5 billion, followed by Curve and CoW Swap. Notably, Ethereum generated $2 billion in ecosystem fees, leading the top five chains.
Tokenized Assets Continue Expanding on Ethereum
Ethereum’s tokenized asset market averaged $203.4 billion in Q1 2026. Stablecoins represented 87.9% of that value, although their market cap declined 2.3% from the previous quarter.
Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC remained the largest stablecoins on the network. Tokenized funds reached $19.4 billion, rising 4.9% quarterly and 73.1% annually.
Additionally, tokenized commodities grew 60% quarterly to $4.7 billion. Tether Gold and Paxos’ PAX Gold accounted for nearly the entire category. Tokenized stocks also increased to $365.1 million.
Network Usage Rises as Fees Decline
Ethereum’s monthly active users averaged 13.2 million in Q1 2026, marking an 85.9% yearly increase. Transaction count reached 200.4 million, while throughput climbed to 25.78 transactions per second.
However, layer-1 fees fell to $39.9 million, down 47.9% from the previous quarter. The report linked the decline to increased data capacity that reduced transaction costs.
ETH’s fully diluted market cap averaged $290 billion, down 30.3% quarterly. Meanwhile, the staking ratio rose to 0.31x, and ETH holders increased to 292.8 million addresses.
The quarter also included Ethereum developments such as the Fusaka upgrade cycle, ERC-8004 launch, and the Ethereum Foundation’s 2026 protocol priorities focused on scaling, user experience, and layer-1 improvements.
