Ethereum is closing in on a major on-chain milestone. Data cited by Cointelegraph from Santiment puts the network at roughly 195 million non-empty addresses, leaving only 5 million more before it reaches 200 million.
The metric tracks addresses that hold some amount of ETH, so it is used more as a gauge of participation than of short-term speculation. That matters here. Even with cautious market sentiment and continued debate over Ethereum’s valuation, address growth has kept moving higher.
Wallet growth has held up through bullish and bearish periods
The report says Ethereum’s holder count has expanded consistently over a multi-year period. The trend continued through both strong rallies and deeper pullbacks, with wallet growth staying intact even during more volatile stretches.
That suggests address expansion did not break down during earlier price corrections. Existing users remained active, while new participants continued entering the ecosystem despite uncertainty in the broader market.
Ethereum’s address base remains well ahead of Bitcoin
Santiment data places Bitcoin at around 59 million addresses. Using the figures in the report, Ethereum’s holder base is about 230% larger than Bitcoin’s, giving it a clear lead among major digital assets on this measure.
The gap is also visible when Ethereum is compared with stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. The article notes that USDT has around 14 million non-empty wallets, far below Ethereum’s level.
DeFi, token issuance, and staking continue to support activity
According to the report, most of the growth is tied to Ethereum’s own ecosystem. The network hosts DeFi, token issuance, and staking, while gaming activity and smart contract applications add to usage across different segments.
That creates a visible split between market sentiment and network adoption. Ethereum has faced criticism over recent price performance, but address growth kept climbing during the same period.
ETH recovered after a weak intraday session
Separate market data in the report shows Ethereum saw notable intraday volatility. ETH fell alongside Bitcoin earlier in the session and at one stage was close to a 2% decline, while Bitcoin’s pullback was smaller.
The rebound came quickly after the session low. Ethereum moved back into positive territory on renewed demand, and at the time of writing it was trading near $1,655 with gains of more than 1%. Its market capitalization was close to $199.8 billion, with about $12.69 billion in 24-hour trading volume.
With non-empty addresses nearing the 200 million mark, the latest data points to a network whose user base continues to expand even as price action remains under close watch.