Ethereum is experiencing significant network growth, and the new Ethereum breakdown in Token Terminal’s Ethereum Q1 2026 Performance Report explains why. While lower fees may seem negative at first glance, it is actually part of Ethereum’s plan to make the network cheaper and easier to use.
That strategy seems to be working. Over the past year, the number of monthly active users has increased by 85.9%, the number of transactions has increased by 81.5%, network throughput has increased by 81.7%, and overall activity has increased significantly. And that growth is not slowing down.
Future Gramsterdam upgrades are expected to more than triple the gas limit, while Ethereum’s long-term roadmap aims to increase finality speeds to 10,000 TPS by 2029.
Ethereum Q1 2026 Performance Indicators
Despite the broader market slowdown, Ethereum’s user base remained one of the largest in the cryptocurrency space.
- Total Value Locked (TVL): $316.2 billion (-11% QoQ, +22.8% YoY)
- Active Loans: $21.8 billion (-16.6% QoQ, +39% YoY)
- Trading volume: $134.5 billion (-24% QoQ)
- Ecosystem fees: $2 billion (-16.9% QoQ)
- Tokenized asset market cap: $203.4 billion (+42.9% YoY)
- Stablecoin: $178.9 billion
- Tokenized funds: $19.4 billion (+73.1% YoY)
- Tokenized products: $4.7 billion (up 325.9% YoY)
Record user growth on Ethereum
One of the biggest highlights is user activity.
According to the report, monthly active users reached an all-time high of 13.2 million, an increase of 53.5% quarter-over-quarter and nearly 86% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the number of transactions reached a record 204 million, and network throughput increased to 25.78 transactions per second.
At the same time, Ethereum’s Layer 1 fees decreased to $39.9 million, a drop of nearly 48% quarter-over-quarter. This decline was due to network upgrades that made transactions cheaper and increased data capacity.
Simply put, more people are using Ethereum while reducing the cost of transactions.
Ethereum continues to lead tokenization
Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain for tokenized assets.
The network currently has:
- 61.8% of stablecoins
- 73% of tokenized funds
- 84% of tokenized products
- 79.2% of active DeFi loans
Stablecoins remain the largest category at $178.9 billion, led by USDT and USDC. Tokenized funds have grown significantly thanks to products from companies such as BlackRock, and tokenized gold products have sparked a meteoric rise in tokenized products.
What stood out to you the most?
The biggest takeaway from the first quarter is that Ethereum activity continues to grow despite falling fees. User numbers, transactions, and tokenized assets all increased, and institutions continued to launch products on the network.
The number of major institutions continues to increase at the top. Recent developments include a new tokenized fund from BlackRock, a second tokenized money market fund by JPMorgan Chase, and a tokenized liquidity fund launched by Fidelity International.
For Ethereum, this quarter was less about short-term price and more about growing adoption, expanding tokenization, and strengthening its role as the backbone of on-chain finance.
