The Ethereum ecosystem has undergone profound transformations over the past few years. Since our last analysis of Ethereum’s gas market dynamics, entirely new use cases have emerged, while existing ones have evolved with shifting protocol dominance and user behaviors. This updated exploration arrives alongside Glassnode Studio’s release of a powerful suite of Ethereum activity segmentation metrics—offering deeper insights into how the network is truly being used.
Understanding Ethereum requires moving beyond surface-level transaction counts. Instead, we focus on relative gas consumption by activity type, a metric rooted in Ethereum’s core design: network throughput is constrained by block gas limits, and users compete for space by bidding with fees. Gas usage thus reflects real economic demand, making it a more reliable indicator than transaction volume, which can be easily inflated.
By analyzing how gas is distributed across key categories—Vanilla transfers, stablecoins, ERC20 tokens, DeFi, NFTs, cross-chain bridges, and MEV bots—we uncover the evolving identity of Ethereum: not just a payment rail, but a dynamic, multi-layered decentralized computing platform.
Core Categories of Ethereum Activity
Vanilla Transfers: ETH as Digital Cash
Vanilla transactions—simple ETH transfers between externally owned accounts (EOAs)—once dominated Ethereum usage. In 2015, they consumed nearly 80% of all gas. Today, that share has dropped to around 10%, reflecting the platform’s expansion into more complex applications.
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However, this decline in relative share doesn't mean fewer ETH transfers are occurring. On the contrary, absolute throughput has increased dramatically due to rising block gas limits—from 5,000 units at launch to a current target of 15 million (and up to 30 million during congestion). So while ETH-to-ETH payments are no longer the primary use case, they remain foundational to the network’s operation.
Stablecoins: The Dollarized Layer of Ethereum
Though not native to Ethereum, stablecoins like USDT, USDC, DAI, and formerly UST have become central to its economy. Since late 2019, monthly stablecoin transfer volumes have consistently exceeded ETH transfers, turning Ethereum into a de facto platform for dollar-denominated value movement.
Stablecoins initially migrated from Bitcoin for faster settlements and lower fees. But as Ethereum fees rose in fiat terms, many projects expanded to cheaper chains. Today, more USDT circulates on Tron than on Ethereum, and USDC and UST support multiple blockchains. This multi-chain reality underscores a key trend: protocols are no longer chain-bound.
To fully understand stablecoin dynamics—or Ethereum’s role in global crypto finance—one must adopt a multi-chain perspective. Ethereum may lose market share to faster or cheaper alternatives, but it remains a critical hub for decentralized dollar liquidity.
ERC20 Tokens: Beyond the Hype Cycle
ERC20 tokens—including utility tokens, governance tokens, and wrapped assets—peaked in gas consumption during the 2018 ICO boom, capturing 40% of network activity. Since then, their share has stabilized between 5% and 10%.
A notable subset is wrapped assets like WETH (Wrapped ETH) and WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin). These enable native assets from other chains to function within Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem. For example, WBTC brings Bitcoin’s value into Ethereum’s lending and trading protocols—currently representing over 1% of Bitcoin’s total supply bridged to Ethereum.
While most ERC20 projects have short lifespans, wrapped tokens represent lasting infrastructure. They highlight Ethereum’s role not just as a token issuance platform, but as an interoperable financial layer.
DeFi: Decentralized Finance Takes Center Stage
DeFi protocols—encompassing decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending platforms, and yield-generating mechanisms—have become dominant gas consumers. Although DeFi includes diverse applications like borrowing, derivatives, and insurance, spot trading via DEXs drives the majority of activity.
Uniswap leads this space, once consuming 88% of all DeFi-related gas and currently maintaining around 60%. Other platforms like Sushiswap and 1inch follow distantly. MetaMask, while not a DEX itself, plays a crucial role as a swap aggregator—finding optimal rates across multiple liquidity sources and abstracting complexity for users.
This trend toward aggregation suggests a maturing ecosystem: users increasingly interact with platforms that hide underlying complexity, favoring convenience and efficiency.
Cross-Chain Bridges: Connecting the Multichain Future
As Ethereum’s fees rose and competing Layer 1s matured, cross-chain bridges emerged as critical infrastructure. These smart contracts enable asset transfers between blockchains—linking Ethereum to L2s like Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism, as well as ecosystems like Avalanche and Polkadot.
Bridges now consume around 2% of total gas, up from 1% last year. Ronin Bridge briefly spiked to 8% during Axie Infinity’s peak popularity. The growth of bridges reflects a broader shift: capital is no longer siloed within single chains.
This multichain reality demands new analytical frameworks. Understanding on-chain flows requires tracking assets across ecosystems—not just within Ethereum.
NFTs: The Rise of Digital Ownership
NFTs first gained attention with CryptoKitties in 2017, briefly consuming one-third of network throughput. But their real impact came in late 2021, when NFT activity surged to consume nearly one-third of all gas on Ethereum.
OpenSea dominates this space, using over 60% of NFT-related gas. While high transaction costs persist, demand remains strong. Efficiency improvements like the ERC-1155 standard—adopted by OpenSea’s Wyvern exchange—help reduce overhead for bulk operations.
NFTs represent more than digital art—they’re evolving into tickets, identities, and in-game assets. Their sustained gas footprint confirms they’re a core part of Ethereum’s utility.
MEV Bots: The Invisible Market Makers
Miner Extractable Value (MEV) bots—automated agents that profit from transaction reordering—now account for at least 4% of gas usage, according to Flashbots. Most MEV activity involves arbitrage between DEXs, helping align prices across markets and improving DeFi efficiency.
Though called "miner" extractable value, the profits typically go to specialized searchers and bots. Miners benefit indirectly through high-priority fees. Because MEV transactions are hard to detect and classify, actual usage may be higher than reported.
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If competing chains can minimize MEV extraction, they may gain an edge in attracting users from Ethereum.
Other: The Long Tail of Innovation
The "Other" category includes everything not covered above: gambling dApps, multi-sig wallets (like those used by exchanges), obscure DeFi protocols, and even past Ponzi schemes like MMM and FairWin—which once consumed up to 40% of gas during their peaks.
While such scams have largely faded, this category remains a catch-all for emerging or niche activities. As new use cases gain traction—such as decentralized social networks or AI-driven contracts—future metric updates may introduce new classifications.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is gas usage a better metric than transaction count?
A: Gas reflects real economic cost and network resource consumption. Transaction count can be manipulated through low-cost or spam transactions, especially during low-congestion periods.
Q: What are the main drivers of Ethereum’s gas consumption today?
A: NFTs, DeFi (especially DEX trading), and stablecoin transfers are the top contributors. Cross-chain bridges and MEV bots are growing rapidly.
Q: Is Ethereum still primarily used for ETH transfers?
A: No. While ETH transfers remain important, they now represent only about 10% of gas usage—far less than in earlier years.
Q: How do wrapped tokens like WBTC affect Ethereum?
A: They bring external value onto Ethereum, enabling Bitcoin holders to participate in DeFi without leaving the ecosystem.
Q: Can high gas fees push users to other chains?
A: Yes. High fees have already driven stablecoin issuers and users toward alternatives like Tron and BSC—highlighting Ethereum’s scalability challenges.
Q: What does the future of Ethereum usage look like?
A: Expect continued growth in multi-chain interactions, abstraction layers (like aggregators), and new asset types such as soulbound tokens and decentralized identity systems.
Conclusion
Ethereum has evolved far beyond its origins as a simple payment network. It is now a multifaceted platform where stablecoins move dollars, NFTs redefine ownership, DeFi enables permissionless finance, and bridges connect ecosystems.
To understand Ethereum today requires a mindset shift:
- From single-chain to multi-chain analysis
- From single-asset to multi-asset valuation
- From static models to adaptive frameworks
The newly released Glassnode Studio metrics provide the tools needed to navigate this complexity—helping analysts, developers, and investors track real economic activity across the expanding Etherverse.
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