Ethereum fees had touched new highs thanks to the popularity of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. As network activity had grown, so had the transaction volumes. The effects continue to linger even into the bear market, although fluctuations between low and high are now more common in the space. Presently, transaction volumes have fallen sharply and ETH fees have now plummeted to monthly lows.
Ethereum Transactions At $0.5
Ethereum transaction fees have declined to one of their lowest points this year. Gas costs which have been fluctuating between high and low seem to have found their resting place at lower prices. In the early hours of Monday, the gas costs for the Ethereum network had declined to their lowest point for June. It sat at only 19.8 Gwei per transaction at the time of this writing, which converted to about $0.5 per transaction on the network.
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This translates to a more than 80% drawdown from the peak of the gas costs last week at 151.3 Gwei per transaction. This coincides with a decline in transaction volume on the network, as shown on Messari.
The data aggregation website shows that Ethereum’s transaction volume is down more than 80% from its monthly high. On the 13 of June, transaction volumes on the network had sat at more than $10 billion in real volume. Today, the real volume was sitting at $570 million, the lowest it has been for the month.
ETH price declines to $1,179 | Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com
Supply has also taken a hit in the month of June. By the end of last month, there was more than 8.6% of all total ETH supply in DeFi. However, as of the time of this writing, there is less than 8.3% of the circulating supply in DeFi. This also translates to a dollar value of under $10 billion when three weeks ago, the value was at $30 billion.
ETH Profitability Tanks
With the recovery in the price of Ethereum has come some good tidings for investors. But, there is still a gap in the profitability levels from last year compared to this year. Going into the last month of the year in 2021, more than 80% of ETH investors had been swimming in profit. Given that the digital asset had hit a new all-time high in November, this was expected.
However, there is a significant drawdown from this point. Data from IntoTheBlock shows that while the majority of ETH investors remain in profit, it is only by a small margin. 52% of wallets are currently in the green while 47% are in loss. This puts only 2% of all investors in the neutral territory, which remains shaky.
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When it comes to the growth of the network, there is more negative sentiment among investors. The major reason for this is all of the competitors that are moving into the DeFi and NFT space. Solana especially has been giving Ethereum a run for its money in the NFT game, triggering an exodus towards the network which offers faster transactions and lower fees.
Nevertheless, Ethereum remains the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Currently trading at $1,200 at the time of this writing, the cryptocurrency boasts a market cap of $149 billion.
Featured image from CryptoSlate, chart from TradingView.com
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