Ethereum is posting record onchain activity, but that momentum has not lifted ETH or meaningfully improved revenue on the base layer. In a weekly report published on March 10, CryptoQuant said daily active addresses on Ethereum approached 2 million in February 2026, above the peaks seen during the 2021 bull market. At the same time, smart contract calls rose past 40 million per day, while token transfers linked to internal contract interactions also reached new highs.
The data points to broad usage across DeFi, stablecoins and automated protocol activity. Price action tells a different story. According to the report, ether is down roughly 30% over the last six months, and the one-year change in Ethereum’s realized capitalization has turned negative, a sign of net capital leaving the market.
Capital flows are carrying more weight in ETH pricing
CryptoQuant said capital flows now explain ETH price behavior better than raw network activity. In earlier cycles, especially in 2018 and 2021, rising onchain usage tended to line up with price rallies. That link has weakened. The firm’s scatter analysis showed recent observations clustering around high activity levels but relatively low prices, suggesting that incremental growth in usage now has less influence on valuation.
Exchange flow data supports that view. CryptoQuant found that ether is moving to trading venues faster relative to bitcoin, a pattern usually associated with stronger selling pressure. More users onchain have not translated into stronger investment demand for ETH.
Fee generation and protocol revenue show the same split
The revenue picture adds to the disconnect. Data from DefiLlama shows Ethereum generated about $10.3 million in transaction fees over the past 30 days, ranking third behind Tron at nearly $25 million and Solana at about $20 million.
On protocol revenue, Ethereum ranked even lower. Over the same 30-day period, Ethereum posted roughly $1.22 million in protocol revenue, placing fifth, behind Tron as well as Polygon, Base and Solana. Base, the Ethereum layer-2 network built by Coinbase, generated about three times Ethereum’s protocol revenue during that window.
Layer-2 growth is spreading activity across the ecosystem
The gap reflects how Ethereum’s layer-2 networks are absorbing transaction volume. Networks such as Base and Polygon handle large amounts of activity while paying comparatively small settlement costs back to the base chain. Economic value is being distributed across the wider Ethereum ecosystem instead of concentrating on Ethereum mainnet.
That leaves Ethereum in an unusual position: usage is setting records, but base-layer fees, protocol revenue and ETH price are not moving in step. The latest data suggests that stronger network activity alone is no longer enough to explain ether’s market performance.