Key Takeaways
Ethereum hit 13.2M month-to-month customers in Q1 2026, whereas L1 charges fell 47.9%.Blackrock, Circle, and Tether helped drive $203.4B in tokenized belongings on Ethereum.Ethereum’s 31% staking ratio and AI-focused ERC-8004 sign long-term development plans.
Ethereum Holders Attain 293 Million Regardless of 30% Drop in Market Worth
Ethereum started 2026 with a combined however revealing quarter. Utilization hit new highs, whereas market worth and payment income moved decrease.
Based on the Q1 report printed by Token Terminal, month-to-month energetic customers on Ethereum’s layer-1 averaged 13.2 million, up 53.5% from the prior quarter and 85.9% from a yr earlier. Transactions reached 200.4 million, up 38% quarter over quarter, whereas throughput rose to 25.78 transactions per second.
The placing half is what occurred to charges. Layer-1 transaction charges fell to $39.9 million, down 47.9% from the earlier quarter and 81.9% yr over yr. The outcome reveals Ethereum processing extra exercise at a decrease complete price.
That’s the core rigidity within the Ethereum Q1 2026 report: the community is scaling, however near-term payment seize is shrinking.
Tokenized Belongings Anchor Institutional Demand
Ethereum stays the main chain for tokenized belongings by market worth. Tokenized asset market cap on the community averaged $203.4 billion in Q1, nearly flat from the earlier quarter however up 42.9% from a yr earlier.
Stablecoins made up the majority of that complete at $178.9 billion. Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC remained the 2 largest belongings on the community, with Sky’s USDS, Ethena’s USDe, and Paypal’s PYUSD additionally among the many main issuers.
Tokenized funds continued to develop, rising 4.9% quarter over quarter to $19.4 billion. The section contains merchandise from Sky, Ethena, Blackrock, Wisdomtree, Superstate, and Ondo.
Tokenized commodities had been the fastest-growing class, leaping 60% from the prior quarter to $4.7 billion. The market is essentially dominated by tokenized gold merchandise, together with Tether Gold and Paxos Gold.
Tokenized shares remained smaller however gained traction, rising 16.5% to $365.1 million. Ondo Finance led the class with onchain publicity to equities and ETFs.
Ethereum additionally stored its lead in a number of core DeFi metrics. Ecosystem complete worth locked averaged $316.2 billion, down 11% from This autumn however up 22.8% yr over yr. Energetic loans stood at $21.8 billion, whereas ecosystem charges reached $2 billion.
Scaling Push Weighs on Charges
Ethereum’s absolutely diluted market capitalization averaged $290 billion in Q1, down 30.3% from the prior quarter. Buying and selling quantity throughout decentralized exchanges additionally fell to $134.5 billion, a 24% quarterly decline.
Nonetheless, the community’s consumer base stored increasing. ETH holders reached 292.8 million, up 8.1% from the prior quarter and 24.9% from a yr earlier. The staking ratio rose to 31%, displaying extra ETH dedicated to community safety regardless of the worth drawdown.
A number of upgrades helped form the quarter. The Fusaka improve cycle’s second Blob Parameters Solely fork elevated information capability in January. ERC-8004 went stay in February, creating an ordinary for AI-agent id and repute. The Ethereum Basis additionally set its 2026 priorities round scaling, consumer expertise, and hardening layer-1.
The info reveals Ethereum is intentionally buying and selling short-term charges for cheaper blockspace and long-term demand. With tokenized finance, stablecoins, and AI brokers shifting onchain, the report frames Ethereum much less as a speculative community and extra as settlement infrastructure for international finance.
