The average transaction fee (7 DMA) on the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has decreased by 70% over the week, from $2.57 to $0.77.
Such levels were last observed in mid-2020.
The trend is confirmed by an extremely low median gas price—at the time of writing around 0.86 Gwei.
According to Ethereum Gas Tracker, the average cost of a swap operation on a DEX is $0.89, while a cross-chain transfer costs $0.29.
“While lower fees typically encourage user activity, the extent of this decline, expressed in a prolonged decrease, indicates a general lack of demand rather than increased network efficiency, as evidenced by the recent slowdown in Ethereum blockchain activity,” noted analysts at The Block.
The on-chain value transferred (7 DMA) over the week fell to $3.56 billion, more than 60% down from the peak levels of early December.
In a recent essay, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin argued for increasing the gas limit.
Earlier, developers discussed the possibility of accelerating upgrades to the network of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.