Ethereum recorded its highest-ever rate of new wallet creation last week, with an average of 327,000 addresses opened daily and a single-day peak of 393,600 on Sunday even as the token's price remained relatively stable during the surge.
What Happened: Record Wallet Growth
The data, published by blockchain analytics firm Santiment on Jan. 13, showed Ethereum's network activity reaching unprecedented levels. Sunday's 393,600 new wallets marked the highest single-day total in the network's history.
Total wallets holding ETH climbed to approximately 173 million. Many of these accounts appear active rather than dormant, Santiment noted.
The analytics firm attributed part of the growth to Ethereum's Fusaka upgrade in December, which reduced transaction costs and improved application performance.
Lower fees have made the network more accessible to first-time users who had previously avoided Ethereum due to high costs.
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Why It Matters: Network Use Over Speculation
The pattern suggests users are joining to interact with applications rather than simply speculate on price movements.
Santiment observed heavy stablecoin activity on Ethereum late last year, indicating real economic transactions on the network.
More than $76 billion worth of ETH is now locked in DeFi protocols. Major exchanges Binance and Coinbase together hold over 6 million ETH in staking for their customers. Such commitments typically signal long-term participation rather than short-term trading.
Similar wallet growth preceded price rallies during the DeFi boom of 2020 and the NFT surge in 2021.
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