Ethereum (ETH) 
$2,804.64The stock rose to a three-week high on Tuesday, approaching the $3,400 level, as weak employment data from the United States strengthened expectations for an earlier-than-expected loosening of monetary policy. However, despite the price increase, low activity on the network and limited leveraged buying appetite cause investors to maintain their cautious stance.
Fall in Network Fees Weakens Market Signals
The 62% drop in Ethereum network fees in the last 30 days reveals not only the contraction in demand for transactions, but also a significant change in user behavior. In the same period, this decrease remained at 22% in competing networks such as Tron, Solana and HyperEVM. In contrast, the number of transactions on the Base network increased by 108%, while Polygon experienced an 81% jump. This chart makes it clear that Ethereum’s L2 ecosystem is expanding faster than the mainnet.
Some of the lower transaction fees may be due to technical improvements, as the Fusaka upgrade, which took place on December 3, aims to improve rollup efficiency. However, DeFiLlama data shows that Ethereum-based DEX volume dropped from $23.6 billion to $13.4 billion in four weeks. During the same period, DApp revenues fell to $12.3 million, the lowest level in the last five months.
The picture is also mixed on the TVL side. While leading protocols such as Pendle, Athena, Morpho and Spark experienced significant declines, Ethereum’s total TVL decreased from $100 billion to $76 billion in two months. Despite this, Ethereum is still the clear leader of DeFi with a market share of 68%.
While Macro Expectations Support ETH, Risks Remain
The US Department of Labor’s announcement of 1.85 million layoffs in October was recorded as the highest number since 2023. This data increased expectations that the Fed could cut interest rates by 0.25 points on Wednesday. The market’s eyes are now on Powell’s statements after the meeting.
The annualized funding rate in futures transactions is around 9%. This ratio shows that the buyer and seller leverage distribution is balanced, meaning that excessive bullish expectations have not yet occurred. ETH is still trading 32% below its all-time high of $4,597.
Meanwhile, former member of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, told FOX Business that the US market could be tokenized “within a few years”. According to Atkins, blockchain infrastructure will play a critical role in modernizing financial markets by providing transparency and predictability. These statements stand out as a separate topic that strengthens the long-term expectations for the Ethereum ecosystem.
A similar development was seen in the Solana ecosystem last week. While the SOL price rose 12% in a short time, a significant increase in network fees and a strong acceleration in new user logins were noted. The recovery in Solana’s transaction volume indicates that the L2-intensive growth seen in Ethereum is happening directly through the main network on rival chains.
