Ethereum on track to settle $1.6 trillion this quarter

Ethereum usage is surging this year, with the value of transactions settled on the network skyrocketing during 2021.

According to research from Messari, Ethereum has settled $926 trillion worth of transactions this quarter so far — 700% more than it processed during Q1 2020. 

The network is currently on-pace to settle $1.6 trillion in transactions for the first quarter of this year. In the last 12 months, Ethereum has already settled $2.1 trillion in transactions.

If Messari’s $1.6 trillion forecast is accurate, Ethereum’s quarterly settlement value will have increased 1,280% compared to Q1 2020, and more than 5,000% compared to Q1 2019. 

Messari researcher Ryan Watkins noted the data counters the prevailing narrative that Ethereum is seeing an exodus of users amid its high gas fees, exclaiming:

“Incredible scale for a technology that critics claimed couldn’t scale.”

Ethereum’s recent surge in settlement value can be attributed to explosive growth in the DeFi and non-fungible token sector — most of which is based upon Ethereum.

The massive demand on the network has caused gas prices to surge to all-time highs. With many retail traders increasingly getting priced out of using the Ethereum mainnet for smaller transactions.

Average Ethereum transaction fees spiked to record highs of $40 on Feb. 23, with Ethereum generating $50 million worth of transaction fees in a single day.

— odin free (@aarvantOFRE) February 24, 2021

Cryptofees.info is currently reporting an average daily fee generation of $32 million for ETH over the past seven days. Comparatively, Bitcoin has generated just $8 million daily on average over the past week.

According to Bitinfocharts.com, average transaction fees surged to a record high of almost $40 on Feb. 23. At the time of writing, Ethereum’s fees have retreated to $21 on average.

On Feb. 24, Cointelegraph reported that a fat-fingered DeFi user mistakenly paid more than 25 Ether worth $36,000 for a transaction this week.

Amid the high fees, Crypto influencers are urging an accelerated launch of ETH 2.0 to alleviate pressure on the congested proof-of-work blockchain.