Overview
- Citi analysts say most of the recent uptick consists of transactions under $1, indicating scam-driven activity rather than organic growth.
- Daily active addresses peaked near 1.3 million on January 16 and have eased to about 945,000, according to Etherscan and Token Terminal.
- Researchers tracked smart-contract distributions of tiny USDT and USDC amounts to large batches of wallets, with 67% of new addresses receiving under $1 as a first stablecoin transfer and reported thefts totaling about $740,000.
- Cyvers’ behavioral analysis points to address poisoning as a material contributor to the volume spike, while Bitcoin’s on-chain activity trended lower over the same period.
- The fee-cutting Fusaka upgrade made high-volume micro-transfers economical, yet Ethereum still leads on-chain assets with more than $400 billion and a 56% share of stablecoins.