The average number of active addresses on Ethereum has dropped to a new annual low, while transaction fees have continued to rise this month

According to The Block, Ethereum transaction fees have surged in the past week, breaking away from the three-year low set earlier this month. Despite the surge in transaction fees and the increase in the amount of Ethereum destroyed, the number of active addresses on the network has dropped to an annual low.

In early September, the average transaction fee of Ethereum dropped below $1, marking the first time since July 2020, when there was still a long time before Ethereum's merger upgrade, blob upgrade, or even the launch of the Bored Ape (BAYC) NFT series. However, data from The Block shows that Ethereum's seven day moving average transaction fee has risen sharply in the past few weeks, with the latest value recorded on September 21 being $3.52, more than three times the $0.85 on September 1.

The rebound in transaction fees has also increased Ethereum's destruction rate. According to data from The Block, the destruction rate also skyrocketed from 80.27 ETH on September 1st to 1360 ETH on September 21st, an increase of 1600% in just three weeks.

In the past 30 days, decentralized exchange Uniswap and its V2 version have topped the list of smart contracts with the highest gas consumption on the Ethereum network, including Telegram centered cryptocurrency and NFT trading robots Maestro and Banana Gun, Ethereum transfers, and transactions involving stablecoins Tether (USDT) and Circle's USDC.

Despite the surge in transaction fees and destruction volume on the Ethereum network, the average number of active accounts on the network has significantly decreased to its annual low. As of September 21st, the seven day average number of active addresses has dropped to approximately 385000, a decrease of 11% compared to the beginning of the month and the lowest value for Ethereum since December 1st, 2023.