2026-01-07 03:22:24

Ethereum's performance in 2025 has been quite impressive. Official data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi within the ecosystem has surpassed $99 billion, which is more than nine times the size of the second-largest L1 chain, demonstrating Ethereum's absolute dominance in the decentralized finance sector.

The application of stablecoins has also experienced explosive growth. In 2025, the total stablecoin settlement volume completed via Ethereum reached $18.8 trillion, a figure that vividly reflects the robust demand for payments and settlements based on Ethereum. Meanwhile, the efficiency of L2 solutions has significantly improved—transaction fees have been reduced to below $0.01, and the average throughput of the entire network's Rollups has for the first time exceeded 5600 TPS, meaning a cheaper and faster on-chain experience for ordinary users.

In terms of institutional recognition, ETF products and strategic reserves together hold over $35 billion worth of ETH, reflecting confidence from traditional finance. The deployment scale of on-chain RWA (real-world asset tokenization) has exceeded $12 billion, indicating that Ethereum is becoming a key platform for bringing real assets on-chain.

On the technical front, the implementation of two major upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, has further improved the network architecture. The L1 gas limit has been raised to 60 million, laying the foundation for higher-density transaction processing. To date, the number of smart contracts deployed on Ethereum has surpassed 88 million, with peak daily transactions reaching 1.74 million, and the active developer community is approximately 32,000—these indicators all show that development activity and application innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem continue to accelerate.

ETH-0,32%

DEFI10,23%

RWA1,45%

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DataPickledFish

· 1h ago

$99 billion DeFi locked value, this gap is really outrageous, other chains can't catch up at all $18.8 trillion stablecoin settlement volume, this number is a bit scary, ETH has already become the payment infrastructure L2 fees dropped below $0.01, ordinary people can finally play, those high gas fees before really discouraged people Over 88 million smart contracts, 32,000 developers are still competing, this ecosystem's popularity is unmatched Institutions holding so much ETH is also incredible, traditional finance's FOMO is really here RWA is only $12 billion in scale, it feels like there is still huge growth potential, this could be the next hot spot Pectra upgraded to a 60M Gas limit, on-chain density has suddenly increased, the user experience will likely improve significantly

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LiquidityWizard

· 01-07 03:45

tbh the 18.8T stablecoin settlement figure is statistically significant but—actually, let me recalculate that against historical volatility... 9x larger than the second L1? given the data, that correlation checks out mathematically speaking. though contrary to popular belief, nobody talks about how those 3.2k devs are probably sleep-deprived like me running on cold brew and empirical obsession

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ServantOfSatoshi

· 01-07 03:39

1.88 trillion stablecoin settlement volume, this number is really astonishing... Luckily, I didn't go all-in in 2021, now I can finally relax.

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DegenWhisperer

· 01-07 03:37

990 billion DeFi locked assets is truly outrageous, this gap completely leaves other L1s far behind. --- 18.8 trillion stablecoin settlement volume? Wow, this is the real payment demand. Isn't BTC the king of payments? --- $0.01 gas fee... I can finally stop batching multiple transactions together. The feeling of freedom is back. --- Over 88 million smart contracts, the ecosystem density is really insane. It feels like everything can be built on top of it. --- 32,000 developers are still working tirelessly, which shows that something real is happening, not just hype. --- RWA surpassing $12 billion? Real-world assets are really about to take off. It feels like traditional finance is about to be disrupted. --- Institutions hold $35 billion in ETH reserves. Wall Street truly recognizes it now, no longer just lip service. --- 5,600 TPS, rollups are really changing the game. This speed can rival traditional payments. --- Looking at these numbers, whether ETH is stable or not doesn't matter anymore. The network effects of the ecosystem itself are already locked in and hard to break.

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UncleWhale

· 01-07 03:32

18.8 trillion in settlement volume? Damn, this is the true display of dominance. --- L2 fees drop below 0.01... finally allowing my mom to use Ethereum too. --- 990 billion DeFi locked-up, surpassing other L1s by nine times. The gap is not just big, it's huge. --- Wait, 88 million smart contracts? Is this number serious? The ecosystem seems to be thriving a bit too much. --- RWA surpassing 12 billion, traditional finance is really starting to take on-chain assets seriously. --- First to break 5600 TPS, I just want to know when Ethereum can truly shoulder the global financial traffic. --- Institutional holdings over 35 billion ETH, it seems big players have already gone all-in. What am I hesitating for? --- Gas limit raised to 60M, developer activity accelerating... what does this indicate? The ecosystem is far from reaching its ceiling.

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ChainComedian

· 01-07 03:30

Hmm... 99 billion DeFi locked positions. That number sounds impressive, but how many are actually making money? Stablecoins total 18.8 trillion? I just want to know how much of that is just wash trading. Gas fees dropped to 0.01, and people are still hyping it. Has user experience really improved, or is this just another round of token rotation? 350 billion ETH reserves... With such a move by institutions, can we retail investors keep up? The data shows 88 million contracts. How many are active? Even the dead contracts are counted. I really don't care about these; the key question is when can I start making money? 174,000 daily transactions, and it hasn't stopped on the chain. Stability is right there.

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