Ethereum’s Network Is Heating Up While Price Stalls, Is a Breakout Coming?

[Ben Graham]

Ethereum is currently trading in a period of subdued price movement, reflecting broader consolidation across the crypto asset market. At the time of writing, ETH is trading around $2,423, marking a slight 0.9% daily decrease and standing more than 50% below its all-time high of $4,878.

This stagnation has coincided with a broader lack of catalysts to drive a sustained rally, leaving traders cautious about Ethereum’s near-term trajectory. Despite this lack of price momentum, network activity on Ethereum tells a different story.

Ethereum On-Chain Metrics Point to Increased Network Engagement

According to CryptoQuant analyst Carmelo Alemán, the number of confirmed transactions on the Ethereum network recently spiked to 1,750,940, making it the third-highest daily transaction count in its history.

Alemán notes this trend may signal underlying usage strength, even as market participants wait for a more significant price response.

Alemán’s analysis focuses on Ethereum’s “Transaction Count (Total)” metric, which captures all forms of activity, including ETH transfers, smart contract executions, and interactions with decentralized applications and DeFi protocols.

The recent surge reverses a months-long downtrend and represents the highest transaction count since January 14, when Ethereum recorded 1.96 million transactions.

According to Alemán, this spike may be driven by increased arbitrage, trading activity, and interactions with Layer 2 networks, which continue to absorb substantial transaction volume. Platforms like Arbitrum and Optimism remain key contributors to Ethereum’s broader usage.

He further points out that, despite ETH price volatility within the $2,100–$2,880 range in recent weeks, the uptick in network traffic may hint at early-stage accumulation or renewed DeFi interest.

This dynamic, while not immediately reflected in the asset’s valuation, suggests that Ethereum’s core infrastructure continues to see meaningful use.

Speculative Behavior and Exchange Flows Raise Short-Term Concerns

Separately, another CryptoQuant analyst, Amr Taha, has examined Ethereum’s recent technical setup from a derivatives market perspective.

Taha highlights that ETH funding rates on Binance have shifted from negative to positive territory, a sign that leveraged long positions are building, which may reflect expectations of continued price upside. However, this shift also raises the potential for overextension, particularly if longs begin to dominate positioning.

Taha also references a recent retest of a key short-squeeze zone, during which market participants who had shorted ETH were forced to close positions, triggering rapid buy orders.

Such moves can generate short-term surges, but they’re often followed by correction phases once speculative energy fades. Meanwhile, exchange data showed more than 177,000 ETH deposited on Binance over three days, indicating potential sell pressure or repositioning by large holders.

Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView