Ethereum Fees Fall, But Usage and Staking Keep Growing

Bitwise says cheaper blockspace and the rise of Layer 2 networks were the main drivers behind lower fees, while transactions and staked ETH both hit new records.

Key Takeaways

• Ethereum’s fee revenue fell 51% in the second quarter to about $64 million, even as network activity increased.
• Transaction count climbed to 203.9 million, and active stake reached a record 40.2 million ETH.
• Bitwise says cheaper blockspace and the growth of Layer 2 networks were the main reasons fees declined.

Ethereum generated about $64 million (€56.2 million) in fee revenue in the second quarter, down 51% from the previous period. But according to Bitwise, that drop did not come from weaker network usage. In fact, transactions, throughput, and the amount of staked ETH all reached fresh highs.

More Activity, Lower Fees

Bitwise says the decline was mostly the result of cheaper, more available blockspace rather than fading demand. Ethereum handled 203.9 million transactions in the quarter, up from 121.1 million a year earlier. Throughput also improved, rising to 26 transactions per second from 15, while the block gas limit increased to 60 million.

The asset manager framed the quarter as a clear split between revenue and usage: fees moved lower, but activity kept rising. Measured in ETH, quarterly revenue actually increased from 27,670 ETH in the first quarter to 31,166 ETH in the second quarter, marking the first quarterly gain in more than a year.

Why Revenue Fell

In dollar terms, revenue fell from about $131 million (€115 million) in the second quarter of 2025 to roughly $64 million (€56.2 million) one year later. Bitwise also points out that part of that decline was driven by price, since ETH traded lower over the period.

Layer 2 scaling played a major role as well. Since the Dencun upgrade in March 2025, blob transactions have been available, but the report says that capacity was still being used only to a limited extent. That helped push blob fees lower, while more activity shifted away from mainnet fee pressure.

Staking and Layer 2 Are Changing the Picture

Staking also continued to expand. Active stake reached a record 40.2 million ETH, or about 33% of total supply, supported by ongoing institutional inflows. At the same time, Layer 2 networks are taking on a larger share of economic activity. Base, for example, brings in meaningful revenue but only sends a small portion back to Ethereum for settlement.

For European crypto readers, the takeaway is that Ethereum is becoming more than just a fee-generating network. Lower fees can help support usage, but they also reshape how value is distributed across mainnet, Layer 2s, and staking. That could influence how investors think about ETH’s role in the ecosystem. A similar dynamic showed up recently in Ethereum Shows Healthy Network Activity Despite Ongoing ETF Outflows, where strong onchain activity came alongside weaker fund flows.