Ethereum network activity has reached unprecedented levels. In a recent update on X, Token Terminal disclosed that the daily active addresses have outpaced those of the Layer 2 solutions. On January 16th, Etherscan data revealed that the number of Active Addresses reached 1.297 million. As of now, this figure has decreased to 945k. Yet, the trend was clear. The Fusaka upgrade wrapped up in early December, resulting in a reduction of network transfer fees by almost 6 times. According to Andrey Sergeenkov, this has likely had other consequences. A specialist identified that the significant surge in active addresses and on-chain transactions can be attributed to stablecoin transactions. A staggering 67% of new addresses have received less than 1 dollar as their inaugural stablecoin transaction. Sergeenkov referred to this as “dust” and discovered smart contracts that facilitate the automated mass distribution of poisoning dust.
This is address poisoning. Attackers are dispatching tiny amounts of tokens, commonly referred to as dust, to wallets with addresses that closely resemble their own. Subsequently, when these users replicate an address from their transaction history without meticulous verification, they inadvertently transfer funds to the attacker. Despite a meager conversion rate of 0.01%, a staggering $740k has been siphoned off from 116 addresses through this method. $509k should be noted as having come from a single victim. The Fusaka upgrade has been successfully implemented. Affordable transactions ought to be the objective for every network. This represents a significant move toward “institutionalization“. It is highlighted that Ethereum is at the forefront of the real-world asset sector, holding approximately 60% of the market share.
Aggressive ETH accumulation by entities like Bitmine signals a positive trend. During the fourth quarter of 2025, Ethereum treasuries secured a total of 1.2 million ETH. On-chain metrics reveal a clear dominance of buyers in the spot markets, indicating a trend of absorption rather than distribution. According to Matt Hougan, the current divergence between price and fundamentals is indicative of the bottom of bear markets.
The record-high daily active addresses may not be as promising as they seem at first glance. In the face of address poisoning risks, the underlying fundamentals, such as on-chain metrics and institutional demand, continue to exhibit resilience.