Ethereum active addresses have surpassed previous highs from January 2018, and November 2020. The new high in activity on the network comes in the same week as Ethereum hit a new all-time high.
The Ethereum network has been busy this week. The world’s second biggest cryptocurrency saw a new all-time high of $2,644 hit earlier in the week. Coupled with the new all-time high, active address on the ethereum network also hit a new high.
Record number of active ETH addresses
According to cryptocurrency analytics and research company Coinmetrics, active addresses on the network rose to a new all-time high of 771,000 addresses. This number surpassed previous records from January 2018, which saw 735,000 active addresses. As well as November 2020, which saw a new high set at 739,000.
Each new high has been led by specific market conditions. The rise of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) in late 2017 was likely the precursor to accelerated growth on the ethereum network, which saw active ethereum address peak in early 2018.
November 2020 saw a surge in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, as well as the popularity of decentralized exchanges (DEX) such as Uniswap begin to take shape.
This culminated in a new all-time high in ethereum active addresses on the blockchain. However it appears that once again the ethereum active addresses have surged.
Ethereum becoming investor friendly
Ethereum has seen predominantly bullish price action over 2021, continuously breaking new highs. The popularity of ethereum continues to grow. Most recently, Rothschild Investments purchased 265,302 shares in Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust, totalling $4.75 million.
Signalling that investment firms are now looking at expanding from predominantly holding bitcoin, to diversifying into other major cryptocurrencies such as ethereum.
While the ethereum network is currently struggling with high gas fees, the network is due for several major upgrades this year to mitigate the high costs of transactions. Following the activation of the Berlin fork, the London fork is set to occur in July. Which is likely a strong indicator of more bullish market behaviour towards ethereum in 2021.
ETH killers cannot compete
While other blockchain projects look to capitalize on ethereum’s weaknesses. Weiss Crypto recently stated in a tweet that there are currently no ETH killers, nor will there be any for some time.
The company also stated that other projects trying to compete against ethereum are non-contenders, saying “Many of them do not. The only hope for some of these alternative L1s is to become a sidechain to ETH”.