Crypto: Ethereum Fees Crash by Over 85%

Using Ethereum costs much less than in the spring. The average cost of an ETH transfer fell to around 0.095 dollars, compared to a peak of 0.72 dollars on April 21, according to Santiment data. The drop therefore exceeds 85%. It comes as demand on the mainnet has calmed, but also after several months of technical improvements. Fusaka, blobs, and Layer 2 have given more capacity to the crypto network.

Transferring crypto ETH Now Costs Less Than $0.10

The drop is clear. In April, sending ETH cost on average 0.72 dollars at the year’s high. This cost now hovers around 0.095 dollars. A simple transfer thus goes below the ten-cent mark according to data tracked by Santiment.

Part of the explanation comes directly from the network. Ethereum activated Fusaka in December 2025. The update notably increased capacity intended for rollups, raised the gas limit, and introduced PeerDAS to better manage data.

The gas limit per block was raised to 60 million. More operations can therefore be processed before users start fighting for the same space.

Demand also matters. The summer was calmer on the Ethereum mainnet. Less competition to enter blocks generally means less pressure on fees. Santiment also warns that a cheaper network does not automatically mean that activity will strongly rebound.

For the crypto user, the result is much simpler: sending ETH, moving a stablecoin, or using some DeFi applications now costs significantly less than in April.

Layer 2 Absorb an Increasing Part of the Traffic

Ethereum no longer processes all of its ecosystem’s activity alone. Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, and other Layer 2s execute a large number of transactions outside the main layer, then publish their data on Ethereum. These networks notably use blobs, which are less costly than the old data storage method.

At the beginning of September, Ethereum even reached a record of 6.7 blobs per block on a daily average. The detail is interesting: the network currently has a target of 14 blobs per block and a ceiling of 21. With 6.7 blobs used on average, there is still considerable margin left.

Fusaka also reinforced this architecture. PeerDAS allows validators to verify data fragments instead of having to download everything. For rollups, this opens more space without requiring the same bandwidth increase at each node.

This is a quite different evolution from Ethereum’s early years, when almost all crypto activity fought directly for a spot on the mainnet. Transactions have been distributed. So have fees.

Very Low Fees Do Not Tell the Whole Story of Ethereum

For users, paying less remains good news. For the network’s economy, the issue is a bit more complex. Ethereum derives part of its revenue from fees paid on its main layer. When these fees drop sharply, users save money, but the protocol also collects less revenue.

The phenomenon was already visible in the first half of 2026. Ethereum recorded strong activity while seeing its fee-derived revenue decline. Layer 2s play an important role in this decrease. They make the crypto ecosystem cheaper to use but also move part of the activity away from the mainnet.

JPMorgan had already raised this question after Fusaka: more capacity and lower fees do not necessarily guarantee a sustainable increase in Ethereum’s revenue. The migration of some applications and their users to Layer 2s can maintain this pressure.

ETH crypto rebounded this week after briefly falling near 2,350 dollars. It had recovered more than 2,480 dollars at the time of publication. The two movements thus advance together: ETH is rising, while using Ethereum costs much less. At an average of 0.095 dollars for an ETH transfer, the network especially no longer had much to do with the periods when a few operations could quickly cost several dollars.