Ethereum Transaction Fees Hit Record Highs as Ether, DeFi Coins Soar

Fees for transacting on the Ethereum network breached previous records, passing above $20 for the first time Thursday.

• As of 05:45 UTC (12:45 a.m. ET), the average and median transaction fee on Ethereum reached as high as $23.43 and $11.77, respectively, data from Blockchair indicates.

• Ethereum last broke its transaction fee record a month ago on Jan. 11, hitting an average $19 per transaction. Current values double the peak transaction fees recorded during the "DeFi summer" of 2020.
• The increase in fees correlates with the general price run ether has enjoyed since the New Year. The CoinDesk 20 places year-to-date returns on the digital asset at 130%.
• The increase in the cost of transacting on the Ethereum network also reflects growing demand for ERC-20 based tokens, particularly stablecoins and the red-hot decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
• Led by tokens like uniswap UNI$3,4995 and aave AAVE$126,02, DeFi's total market capitalization is up 16.37% in 24 hours, according to Messari.
• Ethereum miners have been a primary beneficiary of the fee spike. The industry earned some $830 million in ether last month with 40% attributed from fees alone.

Read more: Ethereum Miners Earned Record $830M in January