Ethereum was really tough for regular people to use for a time. I remember when the price of things went up in 2021 and then again with all the NFT excitement in 2024. Even doing something, on Ethereum would cost around fifty dollars. Sending Ethereum tokens or making a NFT or using an Ethereum app it all felt too expensive. This was a sign that Ethereum was getting very popular. At the same time it was also scaring away a lot of Ethereum users.
In the beginning of 2026 something changed with the Ethereum story. It was very quiet. The cost of Ethereum gas fees went down to one cent. This did not happen because people were using the Ethereum network less. People were still using the Ethereum network a lot. The reason for the change was that some people did detailed technical work on the Ethereum network. They slowly fixed the problems that were causing congestion, on the Ethereum network.
The big change for Ethereum started after they did the Fusaka upgrade at the end of 2025. This upgrade made Ethereum better, at handling data and blocks.
After that PeerDAS came out. Ethereum was then able to manage a lot of data in a way.
At the time Ethereums Layer 2 networks became really good and people started using them a lot. The Fusaka upgrade and PeerDAS really helped Ethereum. Now Ethereums Layer 2 networks are fully. Widely used.
These changes worked together to move a lot of activity away from the chain but Ethereum still stayed very secure. Ethereum started to work like a settlement layer, which is pretty cool. Apps could run fast on smaller networks and then settle everything safely on the main Ethereum chain. This helped to reduce the pressure, on Ethereum and kept the fees low even when things got really busy on Ethereum.
In the past when there was a lot of activity on Ethereum it always meant that the fees were really high.. That is not the case anymore. Ethereum can now handle a lot of demand without the costs going up again. This is a difference from the way things were, in earlier years. Ethereum is. It is good that Ethereum can handle large demand without the fees going up. Ethereum is really making a change.
This change has also affected how we think about Ethereum compared to Solana. Solana got a lot of attention because it was really fast and did not cost a lot of money. On the hand Ethereum was slower and cost more money. Now the fees to use Ethereum are just as low as Solana. The cost of using Ethereum or Solana is no longer the reason to choose Ethereum over Solana or Solana, over Ethereum.
The decision now boils down to the design of the system. Ethereum is about being secure and making sure that it is really decentralized. On the hand Solana is all about being fast and it needs better computers to run. Solana is still the choice for some things because it is faster.. Now Ethereum is not so slow that people who use it every day have a hard time, with it. Ethereum is getting better for users.
Lower fees have one effect on Ethereum. Ethereum burns a part of each transaction fee on Ethereum. When fees on Ethereum were high the total supply of Ethereum often fell. With fees on Ethereum very low the burn rate of Ethereum has slowed down. This has made Ethereum slightly inflationary for now. Many people think this is a trade, for using Ethereum in the real world.
The thing that really stands out is Ethereum activity. On January 17 2026 Ethereum processed about 2.6 million Ethereum transactions in one day. That is a record, for Ethereum. In the past this many Ethereum transactions would have caused a lot of problems. Been very expensive.. This time the Ethereum network worked really well and the costs were low.
People are beginning to see the strength of Markets. The price of Ethereum or ETH for short was around 3319 dollars. It had a small gain, for the day. The way ETH was trading was really calm and steady. Now people are focusing on what Ethereum can do rather than all the hype surrounding Ethereum.
Ethereum co founder Vitalik Buterin also said that the idea of Web3, from 2014 is now actually happening. The things that people thought would take a time to happen are now really working. Ethereum co founder Vitalik Buterin thinks that Web3 is finally working the way it was supposed to.
In 2026 Ethereum is no longer just scaling. It feels usable again. Sending value using apps and building tools no longer feels painful. This change looks deep and lasting. Ethereum did not win by noise. It fixed its core problem and brought people back.
@Binance Square Official #Binance #ETH


